The Shaman's Dream
by Shadowzamy
Summary: The story starts around ep 20. Yoh falls sleep and dreams about an invisible cat, a heartless queen, and a familiar yet Psychotic Hatter but is it really a dream or is it a sign of whats to come? Alice in wonderland cross over.
1. The Begining

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King it belongs to Hiroyuki Takei.

**My First fanfic, please let me know if there is anyway I can improve.**

_'Italics means thoughts'_

**Now on with the story:)**

xXx

"Wake up Yoh, it's almost time for the fun to begin." The Shadow said with a little laugh.

Yoh looked at him and stared. '_I have never met this person before, so why does he seem so familiar?_'

(...) It was no use he couldn't remember and dream was fading, he was beginning to hear another voice now. Yoh recognized this voice though.

"Wake up!" Anna yelled. Yoh jolted awake seconds before he was slapped in the face by Anna's Legendary Left. This caused Yoh to be out thrown of bed hitting his head against the wooden floor.

He looked up at Anna feeling pain and pure shock.

"Ow! What was that for Anna?" Yoh asked putting his hand on the cheek Anna had slapped.

"It's two pm, you were supposed to wake up at six am." Anna gave him a harsh glare before continuing.

"Because you slept in your training is going to be tripled for the next week now get up and start working on your chores." Anna ordered before she walked out the door slamming it shut behind her.

Yoh stared off into space for a moment before piecing together what just happened.

" It's two-o-clock!" Yoh exclaimed, the shock just now hitting him. He sat down for a moment.

"Why did Anna wait until now to wake me up?" Yoh asked slightly confused.

"She didn't Master Yoh." Yoh looked up, Amidamaru had come out of his memorial tablet and now appeared in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Yoh asked

"Well, she had been trying to wake you up for eight hours." Amidamaru stated.

"Eight hours? Why didn't I wake up until now?" Yoh asked.

"I don't know Master Yoh but I am rather troubled by this." Amidamaru said.

"Well we shouldn't worry about it for now after all every thing will work out some-how, but I had better get down stairs and make lunch before Anna gives me something to worry about. "Yoh laughed before heading down stairs to make lunch for Anna.

"Master Yoh is so care free." Amidamaru sighed.

'_I hope he is right and that I am merely worrying over nothing._' Amidamaru paused and then followed Yoh downstairs.

XxX

**Short first chapter, I'll try to make the next one longer.**

**Please R&R.**


	2. The Talk

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King it belongs to Hiroyuki Takei.

_'Italics means thoughts'_

Underline stands for letters and writing.

xXx and XxX announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

**Oh and characters may be OOC.**

**On with the story:)**

xXx

After Yoh came down stairs he went into the kitchen to find Ryu cooking some rice for lunch.

"Hi Ryu, glad to see you're back, how have you been?" Yoh asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"I have been doing well in my shaman training." Ryu replied happily.

"That's great Ryu." Yoh said with a smile. "Why are you cooking lunch though?"

"Because Anna ordered me to." Ryu answered, sounding slightly confused. "Is that strange?"

"No, I just thought Anna wanted me to make lunch." Yoh said simply.

"Oh I see, Anna mentioned that you might think that and she wanted me to give you the list for today's training." Ryu said, before handing today's training list to Yoh.

"Before you read it you should eat lunch, we're having sushi today." Ryu announced, while holding two plates of sushi.

"Ok, thanks Ryu." Yoh replied, taking one plate of sushi and walking over to the dining room.

Yoh sat at the table to eat lunch, it was pretty loud. Horohoro decided It would be funny if he took Ren's milk away, it would have been fine if he hadn't tripped and spilled the milk all over Ren. Now Ren was chasing Horohoro all around the dining room with his Quan-dao in hand. Other than that the meal was fairly normal, Amidamaru was talking to Bason about the great war, Ryu was talking to Tokegero asking why it seemed that he could never get a date and Pirika was talking to Tamao about life in the north and living near the Kuroppokkuru. Only one thing was missing, Anna wasn't there.

_'Anna doesn't usually miss Ryu's cooking, I wonder where she went.' _Yoh thought, finishing his lunch and then excusing himself from the room.

" Ryu's cooking is the best." Yoh exclaimed after leaving the dining room.

'_Hm, I better take a look at today's training list_.' Yoh opened the letter, it said:

For today's training you have to do two hundred pushups for a warm up, then do three hundred situps. After that you need run forty five miles with triple your normal weights on. While you're out pick up some groceries. I'll be sending some spirits with you to make sure you don't slack off, if you do I'll ad another twenty miles to your run. Once you get back sweep and mop the entire house, clean the pool, take out the trash and don't forget to wash the windows...The list went on and on and at the end it said, Be done by eight or no dinner.

"Man, Anna wasn't kidding when she said my training would be tripled." Yoh sighed. _I better get __started, I don't want to miss dinner. _

XxX

"You wanted to see me, miss Anna?" Amidamaru asked with a worried tone.

"That's right. I'm worried about this morning, Yoh has slept in before but he has never slept in this late." Anna sighed and looked at Amidamaru.

"Has Yoh been acting normally?"Anna asked.

"Yes, he has." Amidamaru replied, deep in thought.

"Although, last night he was talking in his sleep." Amidamaru said.

"What did he say?" Anna asked, with a hint of concern in her voice.

"He said, I wonder who that shadow is and why does he so familiar?" Amidamaru recalled.

"That shadow?" Anna repeated, thinking for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

"Keep a careful eye on Yoh for now and and let me know if anything changes, alright?" Anna said.

"Yes, miss Anna." Amidamaru replied, before leaving to go catch up with Yoh.

' _Now I have to get back to Yoh's new training schedule. If he thinks today is hard, he hasn't seen anything yet._' Anna thought, contemplating all the ways to make Yoh's training even harder.

xXx

**I will try to update monthly, sooner if I get an idea for the next chapter, later if I get behind on something else I'm working on.**

**By the way, in the later chapters there will most likely be HaoxYoh.**

**Please R&R.**


	3. The Dream Part 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King or Alice in Wonder Land.

_'Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word'_

Underline stands for letters and writing.

xXx and XxX announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

**On with the story:)**

xXx

'_Today was exhausting._' Yoh thought, as he entered his room. _'I made it back just barely in time for dinner. _

"Why does Anna have to be so harsh?"Yoh asked himself, thinking about the answer for a moment before letting out a sigh. _Oh well, I better get some sleep while I can.' _On that thought Yoh closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

xXx

Yoh was sitting by a unusually clear lake in the middle of a calm forest, the trees were swaying in the gentle breeze. Yoh looked around to see if anyone else was there, he blinked when he saw a strange blue haired teen wearing rabbit ears, a black and white T-shirt and dark blue shorts. '_He kind of looks like Horohoro_.' Yoh thought, while subconsciously staring at the teen.

"That's because I am in a way." The Horohoro lookalike said.

"What?" Yoh asked, surprised that the Horohoro lookalike responded to his thoughts.

"First of all this is a dream, So yea, I know what your thinking." The Horohoro lookalike stated, before he sat down next to Yoh.

"Wait, you can read my mind?" Yoh asked, slightly confused.

"Only in the dream, not in reality. Secondly will you please stop thinking of me as the Horohoro lookalike? Ether call me Horohoro or Trey, choose one or the other." The Horohoro lookalike asked.

"Ok. How about, Trey then?" Yoh asked.

"Fine with me." Trey answered, before looking at his watch.

"Aw man I'm _late, _if I don't get there soon Hatter's gonna kill me!" Trey exclaimed.

Trey stood up and instantly bolted into the forest, Yoh got up and chased after him. '_Why am I following him?_' Yoh thought, trying to figure out the answer while running to catch up with Trey. Yoh herd a faint voice in the back of his mind. "_Because this is a dream_." The voice answered. Yoh almost tripped from the shock. '_What was that?_' Yoh thought, just barely noticing that Trey made a sharp right turn around a tree. Yoh hurried trying to catch up, but after he passed the tree he stopped. Yoh looked around for a moment.

"_Where is Trey?_" Yoh thought to himself, realizing only now that he, was completely lost.

Yoh looked around trying to recognize something, anything that might tell him where he was but surroundings were strange and unfamiliar.

"Where did he go?" Yoh said, beginning to worry.

"Where did who go?" A familiar voice said.

Yoh turned around to find himself face to face with another lookalike, this one looked like Ren though.

He was wearing a striped purple tank top and black cargo shorts, the difference between him and the real Ren was the fact that he had furry catlike ears and a fluffy purple tail. Yoh merely stared at him and blinked.

"Well? Where did _who_ go?" Ren's lookalike repeated with a slightly irritated tone.

"My friend, Trey, I think I saw him pass through here." Yoh answered calmly.

"Oh, you met that blue haired rabbit already?" Ren's lookalike said in annoyance.

"That's right, do you know where he is?" Yoh asked, hopefully.

"Yes, I can take you there actually. My name is Len by the way." Len said, smiling upon the introduction.

"My name is Yoh, nice to meet you." Yoh said happily.

"I know, didn't Trey tell you that everyone here can read your mind?" Len asked, sounding confused.

"Yea, I just thought it would be polite to return the introduction." Yoh stated simply.

"Ok then, follow me." Len said with a smirk.

Yoh stared in shock as Len changed from Ren's lookalike to a yellow eyed cat with a violet colored pelt and dark purple tiger stripes. Len looked up at him and smirked.

"Judging by your expression I'm guessing Trey didn't tell you that he and I have two forms, right?" Len purred in an amused tone.

"No, he didn't. I actually didn't talk to him for that long before he ran off." Yoh admitted.

"I see, well in case your wondering Trey can turn into a rabbit and I can turn into a cat, Trey probably turned into a rabbit when he made that one turn and that's how you lost sight of him." Len explained.

"Oh, I see." Yoh said, thinking about Len's theory it for a moment, it made sense.

"Now, follow me." Len instructed, as he started to walk deeper into the forest.

Yoh followed closely behind, he didn't want to lose sight of Len like he did with Trey. The walk was strangely quiet, then it slowly occurred to Yoh, that even though they were walking in the middle of a forest there were no animals. '_That's strange._' Yoh thought '_I wonder where all the animals went_.' Yoh continued to think about all the other strange things about the forest as they walked. After what seemed like hours Len came to an abrupt stop causing Yoh to almost trip over him.

"We're here." Len announced, hopping on Yoh's shoulder.

"Where is here?" Yoh asked, looking around only to see a big hole in the ground.

"The rabbit hole, this is where Trey went." Len purred. "Are you going to go in?" Len meowed, before hopping off Yoh's shoulder and changing back to human form.

"I don't know, It looks like a long way down and I don't like heights." Yoh said looking at Len who, to his surprise was vanishing.

"It was a rhetorical question." Len said, walking behind Yoh, who was getting really nervous. "This is a dream." Len said in a calm voice. "You don't have a choice in the matter." He continued, an evil smile spreading across his face.

After Len said those words he placed a hand on Yoh's back and gave a hard push causing Yoh to fall, down into the rabbit hole.

xXx

**This is the longest chapter I've written so far.**

**Please R&R.**


	4. The Dream Part 2

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King or Alice and wonderland.

_'Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word'_

xXx and XxX announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters.

**On with the story:)**

xXx

While Yoh was falling he began wondering why this dream was so strange and confusing. Normally he dreamed about the shaman tournament or had nightmares about Anna's training. Why was this dream so different? The thought was cut off as Yoh suddenly landed face first on solid ground.

"Ouch! Well _that_ was certainly pleasant." Yoh said sarcastically, he got up began and wiping the dirt of his face. Yoh looked up staring at the hole above him and he began to wonder how he had even survived the fall in the first place. '_Well, no use thinking about it now, I'm already down here so I might as well find Trey._' Yoh thought, while looking around. His gaze stopped when he saw a black, white and blue rabbit hopping through an open door. '_That must be Trey._' Yoh thought, before chasing the rabbit.

After Yoh went through the door and into the garden he stopped dead in his tracks, this place was amazing. The animals were playing happily, the birds were flying through the sky, diving in and out of the clouds chirping gladly to one another, the leafs on the trees were a beautiful blue green and the sunlight glistened on the little stream.(How the heck the sun showed underground he had no idea.)

'_This place is beautiful_' Yoh thought, almost completely at a loss for words. A moment later one of the clouds moved in front of the sun, blocking the light so that it became very dark. '_That was strange._' Yoh thought, then he shook his head. '_I can't think about that right now, I have to find Trey._' Yoh reminded himself.

"I can help with that." A voice behind him said.

Yoh turned around to find himself facing, The Shadow from his dreams. The clouds cleared and the sun was shining again. Now he could see the shadows face and he was surprised to see that they looked almost exactly alike. Yoh subconsciously stared at the other teen, taking in his appearance. His long dark auburn hair went down to his waist, his ears were pierced and he wore small silver hoops with a star at the end of each earring, and his eyes were the same onyx color as Yoh's. He wore a simple dark grey T shirt, his pants were blue with red leggings connected at the belt and three light red straps with yellow stars were connected to each leg, his red fingerless gloves and black sandals completed his appearance.

"My name is Hao, and your friend, Trey, is going to tea with Len, Lyse and I, would you like to come? Hao asked, with a little laugh.

"Sure, thanks." Yoh answered, happily.

Hao started walking through the garden and Yoh followed closely by his side. After a while Yoh started staring at Hao. '_So, is he the shadow from my dreams then? If he is then why hasn't he said anything?_' Yoh thought, rather puzzled.

"Yes I am, the reason why I didn't say anything was because I was waiting for you to ask." Hao said, responding to Yoh's thoughts.

"Oh, sorry I forgot people in this dream could read my mind." Yoh said, slightly embarrassed.

"Actually I can read your mind in both dreams and reality." Hao said, amused by Yoh's reaction.

"What? But isn't this all just a dream, how can you read my mind in reality?" Yoh asked, somewhat confused.

Hao smiled. "Just because _this_ is a dream doesn't mean it doesn't _exist_ in reality." Hao mused.

"What?" Yoh exclaimed.

"We're here." Hao said, cutting him off.

Yoh looked up to see a blanket spread out on a hill, both Len and Trey were there drinking tea along with some green haired teen who had rabbit ears like Trey. '_That must be Lyse._' Yoh thought, simply. Every one looked up at Yoh.

Trey spoke first. "Lyse this is Yoh, Yoh meet Lyse."

"Nice to meet you." Yoh greeted.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Lyse said, with a smile. "By the way Hao..."

"Len, could you take Yoh for a minute?" Hao asked, quickly.

"Sure." Len said, disappearing from where he was and reappearing next to the slightly startled Yoh.

"Come on I'll show you to your seat." Len said, happily dragging Yoh by the collar of his shirt over to the blanket where Trey was sitting.

"Hey Yoh." Trey said, helping Yoh pick a spot to sit down while Len went back to his spot and poured Yoh a cup of tea.

"Why did you drag me over here?" Yoh asked Len calmly, this surprised Len who was sure that Yoh would be mad about being dragged. Len quickly shook it off.

"Watch and find out." Len said pointing to Hao and Lyse.

"Your late again!" Lyse screamed, throwing a pot of tea at Hao.

"Is that all you've got? I was hoping this would be a bit more interesting than that." Hao taunted, easily dodging the flying tea pot.

"I'm just getting started!" Lyse yelled, pulling out something that looked like a crystal dowsing pendulum. Lyse continued his relentless attack, his crystal pendulum soaring towards Hao, Lyse was clearly aiming to kill Hao with this next strike. Hao smirked, right as the crystal pendulum was about to hit him, a huge fire erupted in a circle surrounding Hao. The crystal pendulum was shattered and the wire turned to ash. It was sadly obvious, Hao was just to strong, the fight was over before it started.

"What was that all about?" Yoh asked, a bit confused by Lyse's sudden change of mood.

"Well, eight years ago Hao killed Lyse's parents after they refused to join him and Lyse's father tried to stop him from causing any more damage." Trey explained.

"And in the dream every time we come to tea Lyse tries to kill him to avenge his parents." Len added, while taking a sip from his tea.

"Which is why Hao is usually late." Trey completed.

Yoh stared blankly at Trey and Len. '_Are they..._'

"Len's crazy I'm not, but don't forget this _is_ a dream." Trey said, answering Yoh's unfinished thought.

"Just because it's a dream doesn't mean it isn't real." Yoh recited, by now he had committed those words to memory.

"Now your starting to get it." Hao said taking a seat next to Yoh, who almost jumped in surprise.

"Where is Lyse?" Yoh asked, noticing that Lyse was nowhere in sight.

"He left, he doesn't usually stay long after I beat him." Hao answered, simply.

"Oh." Yoh said, he herd a faint slurp as Len finished his tea.

"Speaking of leaving, I think I will take my leave." Len said, while getting up before walking away.

"Don't go without me." Trey whined, chasing after him.

"You really think I would?" Len asked, with a seductive smirk.

Trey blushed as they walked away from the hill, soon disappearing out of sight.

"What was that about?" Yoh asked, staring in the direction that that the couple had disappeared.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hao said, with a devious smile.

"..." Yoh frowned.

"Look at the stars, aren't they beautiful?" Hao asked, pointing at the night sky.

Yoh looked up surprised that it was night already. '_The stars really are beautiful though._' Yoh thought, lying on his back and gazing up at the stars. Yoh was completely oblivious to the fact that Hao had moved closer to him so that they were now side by side.

"You know, I can't wait to meet you in _reality_." Hao said, in a slow voice that sent shivers down Yoh's spine.

"Why is that?" Yoh asked, trying desperately to keep calm but failing miserably.

Hao moved closer to Yoh so that he was now leaning over him, their faces were inches apart. "That's for me to know and for you to find out." Hao said, with a smirk.

"Ok, but Hao, why are you so clo-" Yoh was cut off by Hao's lips pressing against his own. '_What?_' Yoh gasped. Hao quickly took advantage of that as he slipped his tongue in Yoh's mouth, earning a silent moan from Yoh. Yoh tried to push him off but Hao was stronger than him and he had Yoh pinned down. Hao continued to explore the caverns of Yoh's mouth ignoring Yoh's attempts to break free, eventually Yoh stopped struggling and finally relaxed. After two minutes of kissing passionately they pulled away for air. Hao smirked when he saw Yoh's face, Yoh was blushing furiously. Hao looked into Yoh's eyes.

"As I said before, I can't _wait_ to meet you in reality." Hao whispered, he gave Yoh one more kiss before getting up and walking away.

Yoh stared at the direction Hao had left, in complete shock. He slowly ran his fingers across his lips. _Did Hao just kiss me?_

XxX

Yoh jerked awake covered in a cold sweat, he quickly got out of bed and carefully looked around. '_Was all that just a dream?_' Yoh thought, rather perplexed. His gaze stopped at the window seal where he stared at a smiling purple cat, shortly before it vanished completely, it's smile and yellow eyes were the last things to disappear.

xXx

**Me:** Finally it's done.

**Len: **What do you mean finally? You only updated yesterday.

**Me: **I'm impatient.

**Len: **You mean you're procrastinating on something else.

**Me:...**

**Len: **So I was right then.

**Me: **Please Read and Review.

**Len: **Don't ignore me!


	5. The Plane

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King it belongs to Hiroyuki Takei.

_'Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word'_

xXx and XxX announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**Bold stands for the intercom voice.**

**On with the story:)**

xXx

"Ok, I guess that ends the whole it-was-just-a-crazy-dream idea." Yoh said to himself, staring blankly at the spot where the cat vanished.

"Master Yoh I'm so glad you're awake!" Amidamaru exclaimed, while trying to get Yoh to get ready to leave.

"What's wrong Amidamaru?" Yoh asked, concerned by the fact that Amidamaru was trying to rush him.

"You slept in again, the others have already headed for the airport to go to the patch village, the plane is leaving in an hour and a half." Amidamaru explained, quickly.

"What!" Yoh exclaimed, before getting dressed and rushing out of his room he grabbed a piece of toast before running towards the door, Amidamaru went out first.

"Yoh wait up." Anna called

"What is it Anna? I'm gonna miss the plane." Yoh said worriedly.

"Yoh, we need to talk." Anna said, firmly.

Yoh calmed down and looked up. "What is it Anna?" Yoh repeated.

"Yoh, I'm calling off the engagement." Anna said, not taking her eyes off Yoh for a second.

"What?" Yoh said, completely shocked.

"I've thought about it for a while and I don't we were meant to be together." Anna said calmly.

"Why?" Yoh asked, looking into Anna's eyes, searching for some sort of answer.

"Think about it Yoh, were nothing alike. We were engaged because your parents thought it would be a good idea to marry me into the family so that I might be able to get you to stop slacking off and start focusing more on your training." Anna paused. "Now answer me honestly, do you really love me so much that you would want to marry me?"

"I do love you, but it's not that kind. I love you as a friend or a sister, not as a fiancée_." _Yoh admitted_._

Anna gave a weak smile. "You see? I don't think ether of us should be forced into a relationship where it will end up hurting us both in the end, do you understand?" Anna asked.

"I understand." Yoh said.

"Yoh from now on lets just be friends, ok?" Anna asked hopefully.

"Ok." Yoh smiled getting up to leave.

"Oh and Yoh, I still intend to keep on training you, I'm not about to let my friend slack off on his dream to become shaman king." Anna said with a smile.

"Same old Anna." Yoh said with a carefree laugh.

"Yoh, we were talking for half an hour, you better get going or your going to miss the plane." Anna pointed out.

"What?" Yoh gasped as he looked at the clock. Yoh turned and ran for the door but stopped for a moment before breaking into a quick run.

"By Anna." Yoh whispered behind him as he left.

"What took you so long master Yoh?" Amidamaru asked.

"I'll tell you later Amidamaru." Yoh said, lost in thought.

"Lets go, we're going to miss the plane." Amidamaru said, as they both headed towards the airport.

Yoh was running to the airport as fast as he could, trying desperately to make it there in time. Normally it would be a two hour long run to get there, with all the fences and detours. But Yoh was desperate when he came upon the first fence he grabbed the top of it and jumped right over. Yoh was silently thanking Anna, apparently all the hours of her training had finally paid off. Yoh arrived at the air port an quickly searched for the plane. He found plane right as they were closing the door, getting ready to take off.

"Wait for me!" Yoh yelled, managing to just barely slip through the door before it closed.

The patch official stared at Yoh in surprise but quickly shook it off.

"You're Yoh Asakura right?" The patch official asked, looking down at a clipboard with names and numbers written on the paper attached.

"...That's...right..." Yoh said, panting heavily.

"Your seat is number 24." The patch official stated before walking towards the cockpit.

Yoh walked over to his seat where he found his friends chatting amongst one another.

"Hi guys." Yoh said, taking his seat.

"Hey Yoh, I honestly didn't think you would make it." Horohoro said.

"Why is that?" Yoh asked.

"You slept in and your obviously late." Ren said, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry, I had a really weird dream and I kind of forgot how to wake up." Yoh said, with a carefree laugh.

"What did you dream about?" Ryu asked curiously.

"Nothing special, just a weird dream." Yoh said passively.

"Well I'm certainly interested to hear the story." Ren said, the fact that Yoh tried to pass it off had piqued his interest.

"I agree with Master Ren." Basson said.

"Yea come on, you can tell us dude." Horohoro said with a smile.

"I would like too know to Master Yoh." Amidamaru added.

Yoh sighed. ' _I really don't want to tell them about the dream until I figure out what it means first, I guess I'll have to make something up that sounds somewhat believable for now._'

"Well, I dreamed I was trapped in some sort of shaman school. I had a owl spirit partner named Chibi. Amidamaru wasn't a spirit there, he was the teacher for history, Bason was the teacher for gym class and Tokegero was the teacher for English class. Jun was there to, she was the math teacher and En was the science teacher. I dreamed that Horohoro and I decided to play a prank on En, we mixed two chemicals that really weren't supposed to go together and we ended up blowing up the hole classroom. We were sent to detention where we met Ren, who got sent there for beating up another student. Anna was the teacher for detention and she had us running laps around the entire town. My dream ended when I accidentally ran into the middle of a busy street as a truck came speeding towards me, and that's my strange dream." Yoh said, pretty convincingly. Everyone just stared at him.

"You're right that is a strange dream." Ren said.

"Well it's about ten hours until we arrive at Patch village so I think I'll get some sleep." Yoh said, with a yawn.

"You're going to sleep again so soon? How many hours of sleep do you-" Horohoro was cut off by the sound of snoring, Yoh was already fast asleep.

xXx

Yoh opened his eyes to find himself riding a giant, ten headed bird, the bird had a few patches on its wings. '_Looks like it's gotten in quite a few fights._' Yoh thought before looking around. "It looks like we're pretty high up." Yoh commented. About ten minutes later the bird turned over flipping Yoh off it's back before flying away, leaving Yoh to fall to his doom. '_What the heck is up with these crazy dreams?_' Yoh paused for a moment. '_Oh well, I better think of a way to get out of this mess before I end up turning into a pancake._' Yoh thought calmly, just then an idea formed in his head. "I think I just thought of a way to get my self out of this mess." Yoh said. '_I hope this works..._'

XxX

Yoh's eyes flashed open, he sat up and began looking around. "I'm in the patch plane, I guess it was just another weird dream then." Yoh said, before waking up his friends.

"Ugg, what is it Yoh?" Horohoro asked groggily.

"Yes I was enjoying my sleep, why did you wake us?" Ren asked, rather annoyed.

All of Yoh's friends stared at him questioningly.

"Well, I think we're almost at the Patch village and I thought it wold be a good idea for everyone to wake up." Yoh said, somewhat embarrassed.

"And what makes you think tha-" Ren was cut off by the intercom voice speaking.

**Attention this is Goldva speaking. We appreciate your choice to fly with Patch airlines. Right now we are currently forty thousand feet above ground and we are one thousand two hundred kilometers away from the Patch village. Starting now all of you will please make your way to the Patch village yourself. We will not tell you how to get there, just know that we will wait only three months. For round one you must make it to Patch village within three months. Round one begins... NOW!**

The minute Goldva finished speaking the floor of the plane opened up dropping all of the tournament participants, causing them to spiral towards the ground. Horohoro was freaking out, Ryu had fainted, Ren was yelling at Horohoro to calm down and Yoh had only one thought in his head at the moment. '_What the hell is going on?_'

XxX

**Please R&R**


	6. Realization

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King it belongs to Hiroyuki Takei.

_'Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word'_

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**On with the story:)**

xXx

Everyone survived the fall by summoning their oversouls at the moment of impact. Now 2 questions stood unanswered for every one, 1. Where were they? And 2. How were they going to get to Pache village?

There was one last question that only Yoh was thinking about. '_Why did I dream of falling off a ten headed patched up giant bird shortly before I was thrown out of the Patch plane?_'

"Well, lets head for the closest town and then to go from there." Ren said, snapping everyone out of there thoughts.

"Yea, lets go" Horohoro said, happily.

Everyone started walking in the direction Amidamaru and Bason had said to go, Yoh just followed behind everyone else, silently lost in thought.

XxX

They arrived in the town faster than expected thanks to Ryu's hitchhiking skills. Everyone soon split up to search separately for directions to Pache village. After an hour they got back together, none of them had found out anything new unfortunately.

"I have an idea, why don't we go to the library?" Ren suggested.

"That's a pretty good idea Ren." Horohoro said, smiling.

"I agree, the library sounds nice, what do you think Yoh?" Ryu asked, turning to look at Yoh.

"Sense we all agree, lets go." Yoh said, then they all headed for the library. '_I wonder why Horohoro has been happily agreeing to almost everything Ren says... Oh well, it's not my concern right now._' Yoh thought.

Once they got there they headed to the front desk.

"I'm sorry but there is no mention of Pache village, but you know Lilirara might know something about it. She lives on the far side of town, a big spooky house, you can't miss it." The librarian informed.

"Ok then let's go to Lilirara's house." Horohoro exclaimed, running off in the direction the librarian mentioned.

Once they arrived they had asked Lilirara to tell them what she knew about Pache village. At first she refused but after watching them for a while she told them what she new about it and they left. They checked into a hotel for the night to get some much needed sleep after such a long day.

xXx

Yoh opened his eyes to find himself in the familiar garden once again. '_Hm last time I was in this dream I __was falling off a ten headed patched up giant bird, now I'm back in the garden... I need to find out more about this world and until then I think it would be a good idea to avoid Hao..._' Yoh thought, freezing when he herd that familiar voice not to far from him. '_Hao is that close by?_' Yoh paused, frantically searching for a place to hide. The bushes were to small but the trees were shaped in such a way that he could hide up there and see everything without being seen himself. Yoh quickly climbed up the tree and looked down at Hao, who was walking with Len.

"Well you've herd my opinion, now what do you think?" Len asked, giving Hao a harsh glare.

"I think we should ask him what he knows first and then decide." Hao paused, looking up at the tree. "Don't you agree, Yoh?"

'_How did he?_' Yoh thought, jumping down from the tree and surprising Len.

"I can read your mind, remember?" Hao asked, somewhat amused.

"Oh right, what did you want to ask me?" Yoh asked, sitting down, Hao sat next to him.

"What have you learned about this dream?" Hao asked, in a calm tone.

Yoh paused for a moment putting the pieces together. "The dream is kind of like a distorted version of reality, am I right?" Yoh asked, looking at Hao.

"You're close." Hao said, a smirk appeared on his face. "The Dream isn't _like,_ it _is_."

"I think I'll leave you to explain." Len said, walking off to find Trey.

Hao and Yoh stared at each other for am moment, both waiting for the other to speak. Yoh was the first to break the silence.

"I've noticed that sometimes something will happen in my dream and when I wake up something similar happens, can you tell me what is so special about my dreams?" Yoh asked.

"Well, your dreams allow you to kind of see the future." Hao stated, he paused, waiting for Yoh to respond.

"I can see the future?" Yoh asked, questioningly.

"Pretty much, what ever happens in this dream is going to happen in reality, you just have to piece the puzzle together." Hao explained.

"What do you mean?" Yoh asked.

"Well, you dreamed about being thrown off a giant, ten headed, patched bird, right?" Hao questioned.

"Yea." Yoh replied, uncertainly.

"The ten heads represent the ten heads of the shaman counsel, the patches on the wings stand for the Patch tribe, the giant bird represents the plane and falling off the bird means you were going to fall off the plane." Hao explained, then he waited for Yoh to respond.

"I see, I'm guessing you can't help me figure it out like this every time, right?" Yoh asked, looking at Hao.

"That's right, this is the only time I can help." Hao said, returning the stare.

"Is there anything else special about the dream?" Yoh asked, questioningly.

"Yes there is." Hao smirked.

"The dream also allows you to see peoples true emotions." Hao said, staring at Yoh.

"Um, what do you mean?" Yoh asked, feeling a little embarrassed that Hao was staring.

"Horohoro and Ren are usually fighting right?" Hao asked.

"Yea." Yoh answered, suspiciously.

"Well in case you haven't noticed Trey and Len are dating." Hao said, with a little laugh.

Yoh blushed and looked down. "So then, if the dream shows others true emotions, then they're...?"

"That's right, they're in love. They just hide it from everyone else." Hao answered, amused by Yoh's reaction.

Yoh froze, remembering that whenever he met Hao in reality he was usually cold and only wanted Yoh to join him so that he could gain the power to create his shaman only world. So, if the Hao in reality ignored him except to check in on his progress and the Hao in his dream had actually kissed him... '_Does that mean?_'

Hao smirked while reading Yoh's thoughts. "That's right... I love you." Hao said, with a sincere smile.

At this point Yoh highly doubted he could get any redder, but still he blushed even more none the the less.

Hao gave Yoh a kiss on the cheek before getting up and walking away.

"Oh, and there is one more thing you should know that your parents have neglected to mention." Hao said, still walking.

Yoh stared in shock in the direction Hao had left. He just barely made out the last words Hao had spoken before he disappeared.

"I'm not surprised they didn't tell you that you, are my younger twin brother."

XxX

**I hope you liked this chapter.**

**I decided not to post this on Easter because of the other story I wrote at an ungodly hour.**

**Please click the pretty review button:)**


	7. The New Friend

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

_'Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word'_

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**On with the story:)**

xXx

Yoh woke up early, he got out of bed quietly as not to wake the others. He quickly got dressed and looked at the clock, it read 5:25A.M. Yoh got out a piece of paper and wrote something down before walking out the door. The note said: Going out for a walk, had another strange dream, I will be back soon.

XxX

Ren woke up and looked at the clock, it read 7:30A.M, Ren then went to wake everyone up. He had already woken up Ryu, who was now making breakfast, and they saw Yoh's note so they decided to let it be, now he needed to wake up Horohro once he got in Horohoro's room he closed and locked the door.

"Horohoro, wake up." Ren whispered, slightly shaking him.

"Mn, just let me sleep." Horohoro said, groggily.

Ren smiled and leaned over Horohoro pressing his lips against his, catching him in a sweet kiss before backing away. Horohoro blushed into a light shade of pink.

"Are you sure you want to stay asleep?" Ren asked, with a seductive smile.

"No." Horohoro answered truthfully. "But I don't really have the motivation to get up."

Ren's smile grew seconds before he wrapped his arms around Horohoro and kissed him. Horohoro looked up at Ren, seeing Ren's smile through the kiss he opened his mouth allowing Ren entrance. Ren gladly accepted plunging his tongue in and exploring Horohoro's mouth to it's fullest. They broke apart after a few minutes. Ren looked at Horohoro with a smirk.

"Are you motivated now?" Ren whispered, gently to Horhoro.

"Yea." Horohoro replied, getting dressed and following Ren out the door.

xXx

As Horohoro, Ren and Ryu were eating breakfast Yoh walked in the door.

"Hi guys, I'm back, sorry I took so long." Yoh said, sitting down and taking a bite of his waffle.

"Yoh, you've been acting kind of strangely as of late." Ren said, giving a back-me-up-here glance to Horohoro.

"Yea, I mean you've been sleeping even _more_ than usual, did something happen before you left that you haven't told us?" Horohoro asked.

"Master Yoh, after you left the house you said you would tell me about something later, what were you going to tell me?" Amidamaru asked.

"First of all the reason why I have been sleeping more and the thing I am going to tell Amidamaru are completely separate, now which would you like to hear first?" Yoh asked, smiling as though they had just asked him if he had won the sleeping Olympics.

"Um, the thing you were going to tell Amidamaru?" Ryu suggested.

"Oh that, Anna called off the engagement." Yoh stated, simply.

"What?" Ryu, Horohoro, Ren, Bason and Amidamaru exclaimed.

"Anna called off the engagement." Yoh repeated.

"Why?" The five of them asked, simultaneously.

"She said that she thought that we weren't meant to be together-" Yoh said.

"But why-" Amidamaru started to say, before he was interrupted.

"-And I agree with her." Yoh said, waiting for their outburst.

"What?" The five of them exclaimed, again.

"I love Anna as a friend or a sister, I don't love her in a romantic way and she knew that, she said she didn't want ether of us should be forced into a relationship where it will end up hurting us both in the end." Yoh explained, calmly.

Everyone stared blankly at Yoh from the shock of what he had just said. Yoh stood up, after finishing his waffle he headed for the door.

"Well, we better start looking for Pache village or we're never going to find it within 3 months, so lets go." Yoh said, with a carefree smile.

Everyone headed out, following Yoh. They had been walking for about three days until it finally occurred to Ren. '_Yoh changed the subject to Pache village so that he wouldn't have to explain about his dreams, why didn't I notice this earlier?_' Ren looked to his right to see Yoh staring off into space. '_Well if he really doesn't want to talk about it that badly then I wont force him, but he will have to tell us eventually._' Ren thought, just as they had arrived art the next town.

They spent the day trying to find anyone who might know something about Pache village, no such luck. Ryu had just exited a store that he had entered to try to find out some information but exited empty handed. '_It's like Pache village doesn't even exist._' Ryu thought hopelessly. He was about to head back to the others, when a green haired girl walked up to him. '_Wow, she's cute._' Ryu thought. The strange girl looked up at Ryu, smiling happily.

"Hi there, my name's Lyserg and it's nice to meet another strong shaman." Lyserg said with an angelic smile.

"H-hello Lyserg, I am Ryu." Ryu greeted.

"I was wondering if I could join you, I want to make friends with some strong shaman, I'm kind of lonely." Lyserg said sadly.

"You know Lysreg I really think you should meet the gang, I'm pretty sure Master Yoh will let you join." Ryu said with a smile.

"That's great, thanks." Lyserg said happily.

Then Lyserg and Ryu headed back to the empty rest stop where where Horohoro, Ren, Bason, Amidamaru and Yoh were waiting.

Ryu swung the door open happily, startling Ren and Horohoro who were fighting just a second earlier. Yoh woke up from his nap as well and stared at Lyserg with a look of shock and confusion. '_Lyse? No it cant be, Lyse only exists in the dream unless_...' Hao's words echoed in Yoh's head. "_Pretty much what ever happens in this dream _

_is going to happen in reality, you just have to piece the puzzle together_." Yoh looked lost in thought as Ryu was trying to talk to him. '_If Hao was right then that means that Lyserg hates Hao for killing his patents, it might not be that easy to become his friends._' Yoh thought, he looked up at Ryu was was now waving his hands in front of his face trying to get his attention.

"Oh sorry Ryu, I wasn't paying attention, could you repeat that?" Yoh asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Um, I was saying I think Lyserg should our group." Ryu repeated.

"I would like to become friends with you guys, so, can I join your group?" Lyserg asked with a smile.

Yoh blinked, '_I stand corrected, maybe it will be easier to make friends with him than I originally thought._'

"I don't know Ryu we know nothing about this guy." Horohoro said, looking at Yoh for support.

"Hi Lyserg, I'm Yoh, I think it would be great to have you in our group." Yoh said, with a carefree smile.

"What?" Horohoro and Ren asked simultaneously. Yoh just continued smiling.

"Yoh, I don't trust him." Horohoro said, looking at Ren this time.

"I agree, he could be a trap from Hao." Ren suggested.

'_Hao?_' Lyserg thought.

"I don't agree, I just don't think Lyserg is like that, He seems like a good person to me." Yoh said happily.

"Oh master Yoh, I new you would agree that he-" Ryu paused.

"Lyserg, can I talk to you out side for a moment?" Ryu asked, they left for about ten seconds.

"Why didn't you tell me that you're a guy!" Ryu yelled, then he and Lyserg came back inside and acted like nothing had happened.

"Well I at least want to see if he's strong." Horohoro said, then he formed his oversoul and attacked Lyserg.

"Horohoro calm down." Yoh tried to say, before he was cut off.

"I wanted to see If you were as strong as you were as strong as you seemed and this gives me the perfect chance." Lyserg said, calling out his own oversoul and returning the attack on Horohoro. Lyserg was faster and stronger than Horohoro though so it didn't take any tine at all to get the upper hand in the fight. Lyseg was about to finish it when Ren entered the fight.

"You left yourself wide open." Ren said, striking with his Quan-Dao.

"I don't think so." Lyserg countered, his dowsing pendulum oversoul turning towards Ren, ending the fight with both Ren and Horohoro injured and unconscious. Lyserg turned to Yoh. "I hope you are not as easy to beat, Yoh." Yoh looked at Lyserg and then walked right past him and over to his friends.

"You guys ok?" Yoh asked.

"I'm fine," Ren looked down at the still unconscious Horohoro, "and he'll live."

"Ok, but we still better leave, I don't think it would be a good idea to stay any longer." Yoh said putting Ren's arm around his shoulders and helping him up.

"You will fight me Yoh." Lyserg snapped, aiming his pendulum at Yoh. Yoh turned around and with his oversoul he shattered Lyserg's crystal pendulum. '_What? He shattered my pendulum, no one has ever done that before._' "Yoh, wait, you might be strong enough to fight after all."

"Lyserg, you attacked and hurt my friends, ether help or get lost." Yoh said coolly, he walked away still supporting Ren.

"You will not ignore me Yoh." Lyserg said, his oversoul was growing and beginning to take a new shape. "The Big Ben is an attack that no one has ever survived."

"Lyserg you can't let hate rule your life." Yoh turned around glaring at Lyserg. "Or it will destroy you in the end."

'_He look's like..._' Lyserg's thought trailed off as Yoh used his Halo blade attack and broke his oversoul. When Lyserg fell he completed the thought. '_He looked just like Hao, how is that possible?_' After Lyserg hit the ground he looked up at Yoh.

"Lyserg, the reason why you lost isn't because you lack strength, it's because you were fighting a memory, not me and that is a fight that you will never win no matter how strong you are." Yoh said, calmly.

"Yoh, Ren, Horohoro and Ryu, I'm sorry." Lyserg said sadly.

"We know you are Lyserg." Yoh said, walking away and then pausing for a moment. "Well? Are you coming?"

"What?" Lyserg asked, he stood up and looked up at Yoh with a confused expression.

"You said you wanted to join our group and we're leaving, so are you coming?" Yoh asked with a carefree smile.

"Yes, thanks guys." Lyserg said, running after his friends. '_Yoh doesn't seem to be with Hao but I can't shake the __feeling that they're connected._'

Unknown to the others Hao had been watching the whole thing from the top of a nearby building. "If only you knew, Lyserg." Hao smirked. "I think it's about time I payed Yoh a visit." Hao laughed as he disappeared inside the flames.

XxX

**Me: **Ok, the chapter is finally finished, now to start writing the next chapter.

**Hao: **Why do I have say it?

**Me: **Because I'm the author in this story.

**Hao: **What is that supposed to mean?

**Me: ***Smiles evilly*

**Hao:**...Please Read and Review.


	8. The Forest

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

_'Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word'_

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone or a sign.**

**On with the story:)**

xXx

Yoh had been lost in thought ever since Lyserg had joined the group a few weeks ago and everyone was starting to get concerned.

Yoh was thinking about when, how and if he should explain his dreams. '_I don't think Ren is going to wait much longer for me to explain, will everyone think of me differently if I do?_' Yoh thought worriedly. '_I know that Lyserg will lose whatever trust he has in me if I tell him that Hao and I are related, what will the others think?_' Ren noticed that Yoh seemed to be thinking hard about something. Right as he was about to say something, Yoh snapped out of his thoughts.

"Look at that weird sign." Yoh pointed out. Everyone looked in the direction that Yoh was pointing and they saw a sign that read:

**The Forest of Separations and Attractions... Keep others close or you will become separated... become separated and you will find an your attraction... **

"The rest is to faded to read." Lyserg said, staring at the sign.

"Should we enter the forest?" Ryu asked.

"It's the quickest way to the next town." Amidamaru replied.

"Ok then, lets go." Horohoro said, running towards the forest. Ren grabbed the collar of Horohoro's shirt.

"Not so fast Horohoro, didn't you read the sign?" Ren asked, highly annoyed.

"If we go in, then we stay together, I have a bad feeling about this forest." Yoh said, looking at his friends.

Everyone looked at each other in understanding. "Now lets go." Yoh said, walking with his friends into the forest.

XxX

"Oh dear, it looks like I didn't make it in time to warn them." The old woman said, pacing.

"I told that lazy husband of mine to repaint this sign, now some poor travelers went into this forest." The old woman sighed. "I may as well repaint it while I'm here." The old woman got to work painting the sign.

"There, now hopefully travelers will stay clear of this forest from know on." The old woman said, walking back to her house. Leaving the newly painted sign to dry.

xXx

"I don't know why you're so serious right now, it's just a forest, no need to get so worried." Ren said, trying to calm Yoh down.

"Never thought I would see the day that Ren would be trying to calm you down, Yoh." Amidamaru said, surprised.

"Yea dude, what's eating at you?" Horohoro asked.

"You've been quiet Lyserg, how do you like the group so far?" Yoh asked, attempting to change the subject.

"I like being with you guys, I do think that you guys get easily distracted and that is a bit annoying, but I'm glad we're friends." Lyserg smiled. "Oh, and Yoh?"

"Yes Lyserg?" Yoh asked.

"You're changing the subject." Lyserg stated. "Why are you so nervous?"

Everyone stared at Yoh, waiting for an answer.

"Well I- Look out!" Yoh exclaimed.

Everyone dodged as eight huge creatures came out of the bushes. They all looked like a mix between a demon bear and a fox with horns.

"What are they!" Horohoro yelled.

"I don't know, but they don't look happy." Ren growled, as the first one attacked him.

"Ren-" Horohoro was cut off as one of the creatures came after him. Soon all of them were fighting the creatures, Ren was fighting two of them, Horohoro was attacking one, Lyserg was fending off two, Ryu was dodging one and Yoh was fighting the last two of them. As Yoh dodged a claw from one of the creatures he noticed something about the way the creatures were fighting. '_They're trying to separate us!_' Yoh thought, worriedly. As Yoh was about to call out to warn his friends, a ninth creature raked its claw into Yoh's side, throwing him deeper into the forest and away from his friends. Now Yoh was fighting three of the creatures, hurt and alone. Yoh had lost his oversoul when that one attack hit him and Amidamaru was still with his friends, wherever they were.

"Grrrroooooohhh!"

"Graaa!"

Yoh looked in horror as two more creatures joined the others in the attack against him. Before Yoh had even realized it, the creatures had him backed up to a cliff. '_If I take one more step back I'll fall of the cliff, but the creatures wont let me leave. What do I do?_' Yoh thought desperately. Then one of the creatures let out a roar as it rammed self into Yoh, causing Yoh to fall of the cliff. Yoh let out a ragged gasp and he faded into unconsciousness as he fell.

XxX

"Ok, how the hell did this happen?" Hao asked, irritably.

He was looking for Yoh when he herd a gasp so he looked up just in time to see Yoh fall on him. Hao stared at Yoh's unconscious form, laying on his chest. Hao looked up once again, this time he saw five demon bear hounds at the top of the cliff, walking away, they looked like a mix between a fox with horns and a demon bear. Hao sighed. "That explains a lot." Hao said, his gaze returning to Yoh. "Well, I better get you out of this forest before those demon bear hounds come back." Hao said, getting up and picking Yoh up before teleporting out of the forest and over to a log cabin about sixty miles north, east.

"Hana-Gumi?" Hao called. Three girls appeared shortly after.

"Yes, Master Hao?" The oldest girl answered.

"Kana, would you take him for me?" Hao asked, holding out Yoh.

"Of course." Kana answered, taking Yoh.

"Who is he?" The youngest asked.

"It would be best if you asked him that once he wakes up, Matilda." Hao replied.

"What do you want us to do?" The last girl, Marion, asked.

"I want you all to take care of him for a while." Hao said.

"Ok, is there anything else Hao-sama?" Matilda asked.

"Actually, there is." Hao answered.

"What is it Master Hao?" Kana asked.

"After I leave, I want all of you to act like you don't know me." Hao said, calmly. The three girls looked at each other and then back at Hao.

"What?" They asked, simultaneously.

"I want you act like you don't know me." Hao repeated.

"What do we do if he asks how or why he got here?" Matilda asked.

"He passed out while falling off a cliff, he was fighting five demon bear hounds without a spirit when he fell. You can say you found him and brought him here, or you can make up a story." Hao answered.

"What if he wants to leave?" Marion asked.

"He doesn't have his spirit right now so it would be a bad idea for him to go alone, if he wants to leave then why don't one of you go with him?" Hao suggested.

"Ok then, I'll go." Matilda said.

"Now that that's settled, I have to go." Hao said, then he vanished in a mass of flames.

"Lets go inside, we need to think of a story to tell him when he wakes up." Kana said, then the three girls went into the log cabin and discussed what story they should tell the teen when he woke up.

Hao reappeared at the top of a nearby tree and watched as Hanna-gumi went inside while carrying Yoh. '_It looks like I won't be able to talk to Yoh just yet, but I will soon._' Hao smirked at the thought, before teleporting to his other followers.

xXx

Ren had managed to fight off the last creature when he checked to see if everyone was alright. '_Horohoro has a few scratches but other than that he's alright and Ryu broke his wooden sword and his pride but those are the only things that are broken._' Ren looked around for a moment. '_Lyserg is alright, a few bruises but he's fine and Amidamaru looks really worried for some reason..._' Ren's eyes grew very wide.

"Amidamaru, Where is Yoh?" Ren asked, everyone's attention instantly turned to Ren.

"I do not know, while we were fighting another creature appeared. It attacked Master Yoh unexpectedly, breaking our oversoul and throwing Master Yoh into the forest. I tried to follow but by the time I recovered, they were gone." Amidamaru said, sadly.

"If Amidamaru couldn't find Yoh soon after he disappeared, then there's no way we will. What do we do?" Horohoro asked, uncertainly.

"We go back to the forest entrance, if we go any deeper someone else might get separated." Ren answered.

Everyone nodded and they all walked back to the forest entrance. It took longer to get back than it did to walk that far into the forest but eventually they got back.

"Hey Ren." Lyserg said.

"What?" Ren asked.

"Look at the sign, someone repainted it." Lyserg pointed out. Everyone looked at the newly painted sign. The sign now said:

**The Forest of Separations and Attractions, Disappearance and Distractions. Keep others close or you will become separated and you may never again meet your companions. If you become separated you will find your attraction but it may not be your desired reaction. No matter how hard you try at least one companion will disappear into the forests soul. Do not become distracted searching or you may forget your original goal.**

XxX

**Me: **Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it and thanks for reviewing:)

**Hao:** When do I get to actually 'talk' to Yoh?

**Me: **In about two or three chapters.

**Hao:** Why do I have to wait?

**Me:** You'll know in two or three more chapters.

**Hao:**…

**Me:** Please R&R.


	9. Separated

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

_'Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word'_

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone or a sign.**

**On with the story:)**

XxX

Yoh slowly began to stir. "Where am I?" Yoh asked, groggily.

"You're in our house." A girl's voice replied.

Yoh opened his eyes to find him self staring at three strange girls.

"Who are you?" Yoh asked.

"Name's Kanna." The oldest replied, lighting a cigarette.

"I'm Marion, you can call me Mari." The second oldest replied, before leaving the room.

"My name's Matilda." The youngest replied.

"What's your name?" Kanna asked.

"My name is Yoh, It's nice to meet you all." Yoh answered.

"Nice to meet you too." Matilda said.

"What happened?" Yoh asked.

"It might be easier for us to explain that, if you explain your side of the story first. That way we don't have to tell you something you already know." Kanna said, as Mari reentered the room. Mari had four cups of tea with her and She gave one to each person in the room before sitting down in the arm chair.

"Ok, I can see the reasoning in that." Yoh said, taking a sip of tea.

"Well it started-" Yoh stopped and stared at the girls for a moment, he seemed to be contemplating something.

Matilda realized what it was and started laughing. "No need to worry, we're shamans too." Matilda said, still laughing.

"Oh." Yoh said looking slightly embarrassed. Mari and Kana snickered lightly before they all calmed down.

"Ok then, It started when my friends and I saw this weird sign at the opening to a forest. It said : **The Forest of Separations and Attractions... Keep others close or you will become separated... become separated and you will find an your attraction..." **Yoh paused for a moment. "It was pretty faded so that was all we could read unfortunately. We decided go go in after my guardian ghost, Amidamaru, told us that it was the quickest way to the next town. As we were walking we were attacked by eight creatures that looked like a mix between a demon bear and a fox with horns."

"They're called demon bear hounds." Kanna corrected, putting out her cigarette.

"So that's what they're called." Yoh said thoughtfully. "Ok then. Ren was fighting two of them, Horohoro was fighting one, Lyserg was fighting two, Ryu was fighting one and I was fighting the last two of them. Unfortunately there weren't eight, there were nine. The last one surprised me by clawing my side, I was thrown deeper into the forest from the force of the impact and my oversoul was broken as well. I was fighting the three of them alone when two more joined in. They herded me to a cliff, before I realized it I was at the edge. Then one of them rammed into me, pushing me off the cliff... Then I blacked out." Yoh explained.

"After you blacked out you landed on me, I looked up and saw the demon bear hounds leaving before I turned my attention back to you. I noticed that you were bleeding so I moved your arm so that it was over may shoulder and carried you over to Kanna and Mari. Kanna carried you to our van, then we drove back to our house. When we got here we treated your wounds and then we waited for you to wake up." Matilda explained.

"Thank you for helping me, I should probably get back to looking for Pache village though." Yoh said, smiling.

"You're welcome, you should wait until you've healed a bit more first before you leave though." Kana said.

"I can't, it's already been a month and a half and I only have a small hint about where Pache village is." Yoh said, walking out the front door.

"Fine, if your leaving then I'm coming with you." Matilda said, following Yoh.

"What?" Yoh asked, slightly confused.

"Think about it, your hurt and missing your guardian ghost. If someone attacks you, you're gonna lose." Matilda said, bluntly.

"Ok, but what about your friends?" Yoh asked.

"We're fine with it, If we went with you, you'd slow us down. We told Matilda this but she still want's to go with you. We'll all eventually meet at Pache village anyway so it's not a problem." Kana answered.

"Ok then." Yoh turned to Matilda. "Lets go." Together they walked toward the direction they thought the red river canyon was.

xXx

They had been walking for several days and had finally decided to stop in the middle of a forest to camp out.

"Hey Matilda, can I ask you something without you getting offended?" Yoh asked, staring into the camp fire.

"Sure, what is it?" Matilda asked, smiling.

"Can you tell me about Hao?" Yoh asked, his gaze turning to her.

Matilda's smile faded. "What do you mean?"

"You're with Hao." Yoh stated, simply. "I just wanted to know if you could tell me anything about him."

"I don't-" Matilda was quickly cut off.

"I already know that your one of his followers. I don't mind, I would just prefer if you didn't lie to me." Yoh said, calmly.

"Ok... Are you mad that I lied?" Matilda asked.

"Not really, you had your reasons." Yoh said, with a carefree smile.

"Thanks for not getting mad." Matilda said, looking at Yoh. "Why do you want to know about him?"

"I want to know about him because he's my twin brother." Yoh said, looking back into the fire.

Matilda's eyes widened. "What?"

"Hao is my older twin brother." Yoh said, calmly. "I don't think he knows that I know."

Matilda stared in shock at Yoh, she wasn't sure what surprised her more, the fact that Hao and Yoh were twins or the fact that it actually made sense.

"What do you want to know about him?" Matilda asked, now that she had calmed down.

"What's he like?" Yoh asked. "Whenever I see him, he is ether telling me I need to get stronger or he's trying to get rid of my friends. The only other things I can find out about him are from people who hate him and they don't exactly state the positives." Yoh explained, staring at the flames.

"You look a lot like him when you're staring at the fire, he does that a lot." Matilda said. "What do you know about him that you haven't herd from others?"

"I know that he can read minds." Yoh said, simply.

"I didn't know that." Matilda said, sounding surprised.

"I don't think very many people do." Yoh said

Matilda stared at him for a moment. "Yoh, It's two am, you should get some sleep." Matilda said, changing the subject.

"No need to tell me twice." Yoh said, the minute he finished talking he quickly fell asleep.

Matilda waited until she knew that Yoh was in a deep sleep, then she walked over to the fire.

"Hao-sama can you come out?" Matilda asked, quietly.

"What do you need Matilda?" Hao asked, staring into the fire.

'_They really do look a lot alike when they do that._' Matilda thought.

"Well, Yoh knows that I'm one of your followers." Matilda said.

Hao instantly turned his gaze to her. "He knows that and he actually fell asleep while you were with him?"

"Yea, he didn't seem to care that I was one of your followers and I don't think he hates you ether." Matilda stated.

"What gave you that impression?" Hao asked, interested by the thought.

"He asked about you, not about your oversoul or your medium, just you." Marion said.

"I appreciate you telling me that." Hao said.

"Hao-sama, can I go back to Kana and Mari now?" Matilda asked.

"Why?" Hao asked.

"I don't think that Yoh expects me to stay now that he told me he knows." Matilda explained.

"I see, you're free to go." Hao said, walking over to Yoh. Matilda left right after he spoke.

Hao sat down next to Yoh. "Well, Otouto, it looks like you're smarter than what I give you credit for. I do hope you wake up soon, we have a few things to discuss." Hao said, with a smirk.

XxX

Yoh was sitting by a unusually clear lake in the middle of a calm forest once again.

"I'm in the dream again?" Yoh thought aloud.

"Yes, but it isn't just any dream this time, it's the _last_ dream." Len said, walking up to him.

"The last dream?" Yoh asked. "What do you mean?"

"Just what I said, this is the last dream. Try not to get lost and-" Len smiled, as he started to disappear. "-try not to die."

"What!" Yoh exclaimed, but Len had already vanished.

_What did he mean by "Try not to die?"_

xXx

**Me:** The next chapter will be called "The Final Dream".

**Len:** Please R&R.


	10. The Last Dream

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King or Alice in Wonderland.

_'Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word'_

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**On with the story:)**

XxX

'_Try not to die? What did Len mean by that and why would I die in my dream anyway?_' Yoh thought, while walking to the rabbit hole. '_That's strange._' Yoh thought, as he was walking. '_Normally Trey is running around shouting "I'm late, I'm late." by now, where is he-_' Yoh's thought was cut off when heard someone coming. Yoh quickly climbed up and hid in a tree, he stared down looking for the voice he heard and he was surprised as he saw Lyse walking with a strange man, they were both wearing white suits with a grey X on the back.

"Welcome to the X hearts Lyse, from now on you will serve our leader the Red Queen." The strange man said.

"It will be an honor to serve the Queen." Lyse replied, with a smile. "But Marco, when are we going to kill the evil Hatter?"

"We will soon Lyse, the X hearts will not allow anyone who defies justice to live." Marco answered, calmly.

"I understand Marco, but what about his brother?" Lyse asked, curiously.

"Like I said Lyse, the X hearts will not allow anyone who defies justice to live. It would be wonderful if he joined us but if he were to refuse, then then there is always the chance that he may join the Hatter." Marco said, fixing his glasses.

"Then if he refuses, we must destroy him." Lyse said, coolly.

"I'm glad you understand Lyse, now I will take you to meet our leader." Marco said, walking away with Lyse by his side.

Yoh stayed quiet while staring down from his branch. '_What on earth is going on?_' Yoh thought, looking around. He was desperately trying to find something or someone he recognized, unfortunately he didn't have ay luck so he waited until all of the X hearts were out of sight. After he was sure they had left, he slowly climbed down the tree. '_I better hurry to the rabbit hole before something else happens._' Yoh thought, running off in the direction of the rabbit hole. When Yoh arrived, he was horrified to see that the hole had been filled in completely with dirt.

"What do I do now? I need to talk to Hao, but how can I get to him when the hole to the garden is filled in?" Yoh asked himself, sadly.

"Why do you want to met him in the garden so badly?" Len asked, appearing in a tree and looking down at Yoh with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Yoh asked, looking up at Len.

"The garden has been completely destroyed, thanks to the The Queen of Hearts, the X hearts call her the Red Queen." Len hissed, as he mentioned the Red Queen.

"I know, I can see the pile of dirt covering it." Yoh said, calmly.

Len smirked. "We only go to the garden for Tea, we live elsewhere." Len purred.

"Can you show me how to get there?" Yoh asked, shivering at the look Len gave him. '_I know that look, he only has that look when something's about to happen that I wont like._'

"Sure, follow me." Len said, with an evil smile.

Yoh hesitated, only staring as Len as he hopped down from the tree.

'_Hm, maybe I shouldn't have smiled like that, I gave him the same smile when I pushed him in the rabbit hole. I have to get him to follow me though... I know what to do, Yoh likes cats, so __**it**__ should work._' Len thought, smirking.

"Well, are you coming?" Len asked, twitching his catlike ears playfully and swishing his fluffy tail back and forth.

"I'm coming." Yoh replied, following Len. '_I've noticed that in this dream, people don't seem to be able to read my mind. It's a good thing knowing that they won't be able to know what I'm actually thinking... I'm surprised that Len is underestimating me so much, but I guess I'll play along._'

They walked for a few more minutes until Len came to an abrupt stop at a small den.

"What's wrong?" Yoh asked.

"We're here." Len replied.

"But it's so tiny, I would have to crawl in to be able to fit." Yoh said, looking at the den uncertainly.

"It's your choice, wait here until you wake up." Len said, beginning to disappear again. "Or enter the rabbits den."

"Len?" Yoh asked, looking around. '_He vanished again? I wish he would stop doing that._' Yoh thought, as he crawled into the rabbit's den. '_I better be careful where I crawl, this place doesn't look very stable and you never know when you might find a hole in the grou-_' Yoh's thought was cut off as the floor caved in beneath him, causing him to fall down into a strange hole.

It only took a minute for Yoh to reach the ground, he landed on his feet, surprisingly. Yoh carefully looked around and saw a strange, dark skinned, afro haired, small boy. He was wearing a vest, a skirt and... a door? Yoh walked over to the boy, trying not to step on him.

"Who are you?" Yoh asked, looking down at the boy.

"Joco." He yelled back, it only sounded like a whisper to Yoh though.

"I can hardly hear you." Yoh said, then Joco pointed to a table with a glass on it. Yoh walked over to the table and saw a label on the glass, it said: **Drink me.** '_Drink me? What is that supposed to mean?... I may as well._' Yoh thought, taking a sip of the strange drink. Within seconds of swallowing he began to shrink until he was finally at Joco's height.

"Can you hear me now?" Joco asked, walking over to Yoh.

"Yes, why are you wearing a door?" Yoh asked, staring at Joco.

"Because I'm the door to the next part of the dream." Joco answered.

"Ok, how do I get to the next part of the dream?" Yoh asked, looking somewhat confused.

Joco smiled as he took the door off his back and placed it on a random spot on the wall. Yoh looked at him in confusion as Joco called a spirit jaguar and together they nailed the door to the wall. Joco turned to look at Yoh after the door had been firmly nailed to the wall. Yoh was completely shocked as Joco opened the door and behind it wasn't a wall but a garden where everything was one hundred times it's normal size.

"That is the next part of the dream. Before you go in, there is something you should know." Joco said, regaining Yoh's attention.

"What is it?" Yoh asked simply.

"After you enter the next part of the dream you should only call Hao, Hatter and Len, Cheshire." Joco said, carefully.

"Why?" Yoh asked, looking at Joco in confusion.

"Because if you don't, the X hearts and the Queen of Hearts will think that you are on the side of _the evil ones_ and they'll try to cut off your head in _the_ _name of justice_." Joco explained.

"I understand, thanks for letting me know." Yoh said, with a care free smile.

Yoh walked through the door and into the giant garden, Joco closed the door behind him. Yoh walked through the garden, he was taking notice of the strange creatures there as he walked. One of the strangest creatures was The dragonfly and no I don't mean a normal dragonfly, I mean a twenty foot tall insect-like dragon with six legs four dragonfly wings and red compound eyes, flying right around the garden. As Yoh was walking he began to hear chattering, Yoh walked over to the direction of the sound. After a few minutes Yoh arrived in a clearing with four strange flowers the size of actual people, he looked around trying to find the source of the noise but there was no one in sight. Yoh was about to leave when one of the flowers walked over to him and slapped him with enough force to cause him to fall back. Yoh wasn't sure what surprised him more the fact that a flower girl slapped him, or the fact she looked just like Anna. Then the three other flower girls began to walk over to the flower Anna. There was a flower Tamao, a flower Pirika and a flower Jun. Yoh snapped out of his daze as he remembered that the flower Anna had just slapped him.

"What was that for?" Yoh asked, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

"You shouldn't walk in someone's home uninvited, it's rude." Flower Anna said, crossing her arms.

"Your home?" Yoh asked, somewhat confused.

"Yes, this part of the garden is our home and you came in uninvited." Flower Pirika said, giving Yoh a harsh glare.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know this was your home or I would have asked first." Yoh replied, getting back to his feet.

"At least he sounds sincere." Flower Jun commented.

"I forgive him, how about you?" Flower Tamao asked, looking over at flower Anna and flower Pirika.

"I guess I forgive him too, as long as he leaves soon." Flower Pirika said, staring at Yoh.

"Well I'll only forgive him, once he's out of my sight." Flower Anna said, walking over to Yoh. '_Why do I have the feeling that I'm going to like this even less than I'm expecting?_' Yoh thought.

Flower Anna grabbed Yoh, lifted him up, swung him around, over her head and sent him flying, out of her part of the garden. '_And I thought the __**real**__ Anna was harsh, at least she wasn't this brutal._' Yoh thought, right before he landed.

xXx

Unfortunately Yoh landed in a large thorn bush which, at the force flower Anna threw him at, made it a very painful landing. Yoh struggled to get himself out of the thorns but the more he moved the more the thorns got caught on him. '_Ow! How do I get myself out of this mess?_' Yoh thought to himself, trying to calm down. Yoh started pulling the branches and vines off of him while ignoring the pain, by the time he was done he was covered in scratches and thorns. Yoh got out of the bush and sat down on a nearby rock, then he herd a creepy and familiar laugh. Yoh turned around to find himself looking at Faust's lookalike. Faust wore the same white lab coat and weird pants as the day they first met, only with the way the skeletons were following behind him and with the way the smoke was surrounding him, he almost looked like a smoking caterpillar.

"Who. Are. You?" Caterpillar Faust asked, through a puff of smoke.

"My name is Yoh, who are you?" Yoh replied, blowing away the smoke.

"I am Faust viii, you can call me Faust though, and you are hurt." Faust said, looking at all the scratches and thorns on Yoh.

"I'm fine." Yoh said, trying to stand up.

"Your covered in thorns and scratches, if you don't do anything your cuts will get infected." Faust said, looking directly at Yoh.

"It hurts to pull out the thorns and I cant wait to treat the cuts, I need to find the Hatter." Yoh replied, trying to walk away. Faust grabbed Yoh's arm to prevent him from leaving.

"I am a doctor so I can take the thorns out and treat your cuts." Faust said, taking a first aid kit from one of the skeleton arms.

"I really can't wait, I need to find Hatter." Yoh said, trying to pull away. '_But if I stay this size he might accidentally step on me, then again if flower Anna was worse than the real Anna then I don't want to see the difference between Caterpillar Faust and real Faust... How can I get hurt in a dream anyway?_' Yoh thought, pausing for a moment.

"If you let me treat you, I'll tell you how to get back to your original size." Faust said, snapping Yoh out of his thoughts.

"All right Faust." Yoh said calmly. Faust gestured for Yoh to sit down on the rock and Yoh did as Faust asked. Surprisingly it didn't hurt that much when Faust pulled out the thorns, what hurt was when Faust cleaned the cuts but luckily that didn't take long. Yoh was bandaged quickly and carefully and by the time Faust was done only about ten minutes had passed. '_Ok, maybe I was wrong about Caterpillar Faust, he's actually pretty nice... Didn't Hatter say that almost everything in the dream is going to happen in reality one way or another and that I just have to put the pieces together? ...What is the meaning of the 'Last Dream' anyway?_' Yoh thought, getting up and looking at the new bandages.

"If you keep going north you'll come across two cookies, if you take a bite of the chocolate cookie you will turn smaller and a bite of the almond cookie will make you bigger." Faust explained, disappearing in the smoke.

"Thank you." Yoh said, walking in direction Faust had pointed.

A giant skeleton butterfly flew overhead. "Your welcome." It said, flying out of the garden.

"So he was a caterpillar." Yoh said thoughtfully. Yoh walked north until he reached the cookies that Faust had mentioned. Yoh took a small bite of the almond cookie and grew until he was back to his normal size. '_I better keep the rest, in a crazy dream like this I might end up needing them._' Yoh thought, as he put the cookies in his pockets. Yoh continued walking until he reached a strange forest with signs everywhere, the signs were nailed onto every tree. Yoh walked a little farther until he reached a fork in the road, there were two small girls standing right where the road split into two. The two girls looked up at Yoh and turned so that they were facing him.

"The X hearts call us Tweedledee and Tweedledum, it makes us both feel really glum." The two girls said, simultaneously.

"What are your real names?" Yoh asked, trying to cheer them up.

"My name's Lip." The first one said happily.

"My name is Rap." The second answered with a smile.

"What's your name?" Lip and Rap asked.

"My name is Yoh, do ether of you know which way I have to go to find the Hatter?" Yoh asked.

"I do!" Lip and Rap both shouted eagerly.

"Which way?" Yoh asked, calmly. '_Why do I have the feeling that I'm not going to find out?_'

"That way." Lip and Rap answered, both of them were pointing in the opposite direction.

"Thanks, I think I'll go this way." Yoh said, taking the path that Rap had pointed to. Yoh started walking along the right path when he herd the X hearts coming. Yoh quickly hid in one of the bushes and listened carefully as the one called Marco spoke.

"Tweedledee and Tweedledum, we saw a boy coming through here, what was he looking for?" Marco asked, looking down at the two small girls.

"He was looking for Cheshire and Trey and he asked us if we knew the way." Lip and Rap answered, glaring at Marco.

"Which way did he go?" Marco asked, looking at Lyse before returning his gaze to the twins.

"Why do you want to know?" Lip and Rap asked in return.

"The Red Queen wishes to meet him, now which way did he go?" Marco asked, fixing his glasses.

"That way." Lip and Rap growled, both of them were pointing left.

Marco nodded a walked down the the left path with the X hearts following closely behind him, once they were gone Yoh came out of his bush.

"Thank you for helping me." Yoh said, starting to walk down the right path.

"Anything to piss-off the Queen." The twins replied, walking off in some random direction.

XxX

As Yoh was walking through the forest and taking in the scenery as well as the the appearance of all the strange animals, he began to hear Len's voice. Yoh ran off in the direction he herd the voice and soon he saw Len/Cheshire sitting in one of the trees.

"Len, what did you mean when you said this is the last dream?" Yoh asked, looking up at Len.

"Hm? Hao will tell you about that later, are you sure it's a good idea to call me by my name though? The X hearts have ways of finding things out." Len asked, jumping down from the tree.

"Ok Cheshire, what are the X hearts?" Yoh asked, calmly.

"They're a bunch of fanatics that think anyone who get's in their way or follows Hatter is a seed of evil and should be destroyed and they follow the Queen of Hearts like mindless pawns." Cheshire hissed, changing into his cat form.

"Where can I find the Queen of Hearts?" Yoh asked, walking over to Cheshire.

"You actually want to _meet_ her?" Cheshire asked, in shock.

"Yes, I want to know what she's actually like." Yoh responded, simply.

"And I thought Faust, Hatter and _I_ were insane." Cheshire said, with a look of disbelief.

"Which way is she?" Yoh asked, staring at Cheshire.

"Some say this way, some say that way, I personally choose the shortcut." Cheshire said, pulling on one of the branches of the tree so that a secret door appeared.

"Have fun." Cheshire said with a smile, then he disappeared.

Yoh walked down the secret passage way for about an hour, then he started hearing the voices of the X hearts. They were going off, mindlessly rambling about how the queen was pure and how the Hatter was evil and how weather Yoh joined or refused they where still going to use him as bait for a trap that would destroy both him and Hatter and how... '_Wait, they're going to use me as bait?_' Yoh thought, pausing for a moment before he continued walking. Yoh kept walking while thinking about what he had heard, after a while he reached the end of the secret passage and when he exited, he found that he was in the middle of a maze. Yoh walked until he reached the gate to the castle, Yoh knocked and the doors instantly swung open. Yoh walked inside the garden and noted that everything in the garden was completely red with the exception of a few white roses here and there, Yoh was a little freaked out when he saw the giant white and golden mechanical angels around the red garden. '_I wonder if they are trying to make a statement?_' Yoh thought, pausing to stare at the garden. Then Yoh herd someone talking and when he turned around to see who it was, he found himself looking at a strange girl. The girl had whitish grey hair and red rose colored eyes, she wore an elegant white dress with a silver X on the front and a crown with a lock on the middle.

"Hello Yoh Asakura, I am the The Queen of Hearts, The Red Queen and The Iron Maiden Jeanne." The girl said, breaking the silence.

"What should I call you?" Yoh asked, simply.

"You may call me Jeanne." Jeanne replied with an smile.

"Why do you want me to join the X hearts?" Yoh asked, calmly.

"With your help we can punish the evil Hatter and cleanse the world completely of its evil." Jeanne said, calling the rest of the X hearts over to where they were.

"By _punish_ and _cleanse_ you mean _kill_ and _massacre_?" Yoh asked, trying to stay calm.

"We do what is needed in the name of justice, everything will workout somehow, isn't that what you always say?" Jeanne asked, calmly.

"Will you join us Asakura Yoh, or will you take sides with the evil Hatter?" Marco asked, fixing his glasses.

"There is no way in _hell_ that I will ever join you. All of you are far _worse_ than Hao, at least he understands the damage he's causing to reach his goal, he just thinks that the end result will justify his actions and when he kills he ends it quickly. All of you don't even realize the damage that your causing is just as bad at his and when you kill you usually torture your victim into submitting to your will first and if they refuse you kill them. I will never agree to what you are doing." Yoh explained, coolly.

Lyse's jaw dropped as she stared in total shock at Yoh while Marco looked like he wanted to murder Yoh and give him a very slow and painful death.

"Seize him." Jeanne ordered, her eyes flaring with rage.

Yoh was soon forced into shackles and hung over the garden by the mechanical angels.

"Now, Off with his head!" Jeanne screeched.

The giant angel swung his sword down as ordered. '_Am I really going to die in this dream?_' Yoh thought, desperately.

"And just what are you trying to do to my Otouto?" Hao's voice echoed around the bushes and trees before a mass of flames consumed the entire garden and destroying the angels holding Yoh.

"Hatter!" Jeanne and Marco yelled in fury.

Hao caught Yoh as he fell and then returned his gaze to the X hearts.

"I'm taking him back and don't you _dare_ follow." Hao said coolly, as he teleported away in a mass of flames. The last thing Yoh saw before they disappeared, was the was the burning red garden and the mechanical angels being consumed in the raging fire.

xXx

"Are you alright Otouto?" Hao asked, gently setting Yoh down next to him.

"I'm fine." Yoh replied, taking off the chains. Hao merely smiled at him.

"Hey Hao, what is the meaning of the last dream?" Yoh asked, looking up at him.

"As the name suggests this is the last dream you'll ever have and I don't mean the last vision dream, I mean after you wake up you will no longer be able to dream at all." Hao said calmly.

"What? Why?" Yoh asked in confusion.

"Because you can go into the dreams of others. While your in another persons dreams you can look through their thoughts, feelings and memories. Because of that you wont be able to have your own dreams. While your asleep your spirit can also partially leave your body if you want it to and I'm sure that there are more abilities that are 'sleeping' inside you that you will soon awaken." Hao explained, taking his time to make sure that Yoh understood.

"Ok, but Hao, why haven't you tried to do anything to me? I thought that sense this is the last dream you would try to kiss me again or do something along those lines. " Yoh asked, noticing that the dream was beginning to fade.

Hao smirked. "You'll find out soon after you wake up... Otouto." The dream then faded completely and Yoh began to wake up.

XxX

**Well this chapter is finally done, sorry for the wait.**

**Please don't forget to review.^^**


	11. A New Voice

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King or Alice in Wonderland.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**On with the story:)**

xXx

Yoh stirred as he reluctantly began to wake up, when he opened his eyes he saw that Hao was sitting next to him with his arm around him.

"Hao, why are you here?" Yoh asked nervously.

"Is it wrong that I want to have a talk with my Otouto?" Hao answered, still holding Yoh.

"How did you find out that I knew?" Yoh asked, slowly backing out of Hao's hold.

"I overheard you and Matilda talking. Now, how did you know that I could read minds and how are you closing off yours?" Hao replied, staring at Yoh in a way that sent shivers up his spine.

"And why would I tell you?" Yoh asked, standing up and taking a few steps back.

Hao smirked evilly as he stood up and walked over to Yoh. "I was hoping you would ask that." Hao replied, grabbing hold of Yoh's shoulders as he pushed Yoh down onto the grass. Yoh stared up in surprise as Hao leaned over him and used one of his hands to pin Yoh's wrists above his head. Hao moved on top of Yoh so that he was now straddling his waist and he used his free hand to untuck Yoh's shirt. Yoh squirmed as Hao slid his hand underneath his shirt and began drawing circles along his flat chest.

"H-Hao, what are you doing?" Yoh asked, struggling against Hao's hold.

"Trying to get an answer." Hao replied, gently licking Yoh's neck. Yoh tried to push Hao off but Hao only smiled as he moved over so that he was less than an inch away from Yoh's mouth and then he bit down playfully on Yoh's bottom lip. Yoh gasped and Hao smirked as he slipped his tongue in Yoh's mouth. Yoh moaned slightly as Hao began happily exploring his mouth, they broke broke apart for air after about four minutes. Hao looked down at the blushing Yoh before going back to kissing him again.

"Hao... you know I wont tell you... So why are you still?" Yoh asked between breaths.

"Because I love you, wanting answers was just an excuse." Hao replied, nipping softly on Yoh's neck. Yoh shivered slightly while trying to think.

'''_What the hell am I supposed to do?... I can't believe I'm actually falling in love with Hao... I have to get him off me somehow though, or else things could start to get even more out of hand._''' Yoh thought desperately as Hao began to take off Yoh's shirt.

"Hao do you know any team with an X in it?" Yoh asked quickly.

Hao froze and looked down at Yoh with a confused expression, then he slowly got off of Yoh and sat down next to him. "The X-Laws, they're a bunch of fanatics who exist for the sole purpose of trying to destroy me or anyone else who they consider to be evil." Hao explained calmly. "I'm surprised that they haven't come after you yet." Hao added in a mildly amused tone.

"Why would they come after me? They shouldn't know that we're twins yet." Yoh asked while standing up, still shuddering about every other minute.

"They may not know we're twins, but they do know that we're related and they would probably ether want you to join them or they would want to destroy you." Hao replied while watching Yoh's expression.

"Oh..." Yoh said, calmly. '''_Just like the X-Hearts._''' Yoh thought before changing the subject. "I should probably try to find my friends now, I've been separated from them for a while." Yoh said as he carefully began to walk away.

"Fine... but you better find another spirit partner or else you wont last ten seconds in a fight without one." Hao said before he teleported back to his followers.

'_I hate to admit it, but he's right. I need to find a spirit that will team up with me, at least until I can find Amidamaru._' Yoh thought as he walked deeper into the forest. Yoh decided that he would try to find a spirit on his way to Pache village, it would be easier that way. Yoh walked for about a week strait, still no sign of his friends or a spirit that would be willing to come with him. '_I had better at least try to get some sleep, I wont be able to find Pache village if I'm to tired to search._' Yoh climbed up a sturdy tree and laid down. '_I wonder what will happen, now that I can no longer dream._' Yoh thought as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

XxX

Yoh opened his eyes to find himself in a dark maze, the walls were made of thorns and there were unusual staircases going off in any random directions. Yoh searched the maze for a while, there were lots of locked doors and dead ends. '_Where am I?_' Yoh thought as he stopped walking and stared at a strange locked door. All the other doors were plainly colored in grey, black, or white, possibly all three, but this door was different. This door was as black as night with purple and blue flames around the edges and crimson red dripping down from the top in a way that kind of looked like the door was bleeding. Yoh knew that the door was locked, he had already tried opening it two times before and failed. '_I don't know why but I feel like I need to go inside this door._' Yoh thought as he tried and failed at opening it again. '_Hm... why don't I try opening it a different way?_' Yoh thought, then he used his own spirit to call out to the door and surprisingly, it opened. Yoh walked inside the room and the door shut behind him, the room appeared to be completely empty.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" Yoh called, but there was no answer.

"Where am I?" Yoh asked, hopelessly.

"You are in my dream right now." A strange voice answered.

"Why cant I see you?" Yoh asked while looking around.

"Probably for the same reason that I can't see you, I'm cursed." The strange voice replied, sadly.

"How can I find you?" Yoh asked while staring into the dark.

"Why would you want to?" The strange voice asked in confusion.

"Because it seems like I'm the first person you've talked to in a while and you sound pretty lonely. I'd like to be friends with you but that would be kind of hard to do if I don't know where you are." Yoh replied.

"I see, because of my curse I can't tell you where I am directly but I can tell you my riddle... **In a dark forest filled with hawks, there is one evanescent, demon fox. This large demon fox is not as it seems, for it can send visions in dreams. Trapped within a broken stone, the demon fox is all alone. Free the fox from it's binds and you may be able to share minds.**" The strange voice said as it faded away, taking the rest of the dream with it.

Yoh opened his eyes to find himself staring at his body. '_So this is what Hatter meant when he said that my spirit could partially leave my body... Luckily it's not like my spirit disappeared from my body, I'm just able to move my consciousness around freely._' Yoh thought as he floated around. '_Maybe I could try to find my friends now, or the forest that the voice mentioned._' On that thought Yoh flew around in search, after about an hour he came across a forest that matched the riddles description. Yoh stared at it for a while so that he could remember where it was, then he flew off in search of his friends. Yoh flew around searching for hours but still no sign of his friends, he looked down at his hands and noticed that they were disappearing. '_It looks like I'm waking up... Oh well, I guess I'll have to search again tomorrow._' Yoh thought as he began to wake up.

XxX

"Hey Ren, do you think that we'll ever be able to see Yoh again?" Horohoro asked worriedly.

"Of course we'll see him again, we're all in the shaman tournament after all. For now we just need to search for Pache village though, we'll find Yoh along the way or once we get there." Ren explained calmly.

"But we've been searching for days and there's still no sign of it." Ryu said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to find Yoh with my dowsing." Lyserg said sadly.

"It's alright Lyserg, you're using your ability to find Pache village now, and like Ren said we'll find Yoh ether on the way or once we get there." Amidamaru said, trying to cheer up Lyserg.

"I hope you guys are right." Lyserg said with a weak smile. Then they continued walking in the direction of Pache village.

xXx

**Me: **Another chapter finished.

**Lyserg:** Why am I in Authors note now?

**Me:** Because I felt like it, so now it's your turn to say it.

**Lyserg:** Ok then...

**Me:**...**  
><strong>

**Lyserg:** Please review.


	12. Nox Enters

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**I finally added an OC in the story.**

**On with the story:)**

xXx

Yoh opened his eyes and carefully sat up so that he wouldn't fall off the tree. '_Ok, if I remember what happened while I was asleep correctly then the forest is about 32 miles northwest... I better get going._' Yoh thought as he jumped off the tree branch and headed for the forest. After three hours Yoh finally reached the forest opening, Yoh stared at it for a moment before entering. The forest was very dark despite the fact that it was about noon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Yoh started to get nervous as he noticed that the forest was very quiet, the only noises that could be heard were the sound of the leaves rustling and hawks flying over head. Yoh decided to follow the hawks since he couldn't think of any other way to find the voice.

After he had been following them for a while they all stopped at a clearing which seemed darker than the rest of the forest, if that was even possible. When one of the hawks noticed Yoh it called out to the others and they all scattered in a flurry of feathers, leaving only a large broken fox statue behind. Yoh carefully walked up to the statue and pet it's head, he could feel a spirit emanating from it. '_So this is where you are, now how do I get you out of here?_' Yoh thought as he took his hand off the statue. Then Yoh tried the same thing he did in the dream in order to get the door open, he used his spirit to call out to the statue and after a few minutes a stone tablet with writing from a language Yoh hadn't seen before, came out of the ground.

'_Well that's strange, I can actually read it._' Yoh thought as he began reading the stone tablet. **This is a memorial for the evil demon fox that tormented, killed, and drove many to insanity. This statue was placed to curse and seal the demon away within its being. Only blood and a strong spirit without hate can break it.** Yoh stared blankly at the statue as he finished reading. '_Ok, so I have to break the statue in order to free the fox, I better start trying._' Yoh thought with a carefree smile. Yoh cut his hand on one of the cracks in the statue and merely watched as his blood dripped on the statue's head, then he jumped up high and moved his spiritual energy to his leg as he kicked down hard on the statue as he landed. The statue shattered on the impact leaving nothing where the statue once was.

'_Did it work?_' Yoh thought worriedly as he looked around for the fox.

"Yes it did, thank you for freeing me." A voice said from behind him.

Yoh turned around to find himself facing a three tailed demon fox that was only about three inches shorter than him, not counting the ears or the wings. It was mostly a dark purple with red on it's chest, stomach, paws, and the tip of it's tail. The tip of its ears as well as the inside of its wings were blue and it had several black markings around its face, back, and legs.

"I'm actually surprised that my idea worked... My name is Yoh, what's yours?" Yoh asked while looking at the fox.

"My name is Nox, are you the one that was in my dream?" Nox asked while staring back at Yoh.

"Yea, I'm not quite sure how I went in to your dream though, still learning about that... By the way, the stone said something about you terrorizing, killing and driving people insane, what did it mean by that and what are you?" Yoh asked, curiously.

"I am a visio nocturna also called an umbra somnium anima, in other words a shadow dream spirit or a nightmare, which ever you prefer. As for the stone, I hate humans so I enjoy tormenting them and a lot of times there would be a human that pissed me off so I would make them go insane, I usually don't kill unless it's necessary though." Nox explained while walking over to Yoh.

"What do you think of me?" Yoh asked calmly.

"... You're a very strange shaman as far as I can tell, I like you though, your pretty interesting." Nox answered happily.

"Thanks, by the way what are you going to do now that your curse is broken?" Yoh asked with a carefree smile.

"Hm... I don't really have anything to do... by the way, since your a shaman, where is your spirit partner?" Nox asked while looking around.

"Oh, I got separated from him and my friends a while back so I've been alone for a while." Yoh said sadly.

"I see... would you mind if I became your spirit partner too?" Nox asked carefully.

"Not at all, let's go Nox. We need to find a place called Pache village, I'm sure my friends will be there too." Yoh said while running off. Nox followed closely behind as the ran out of the forest. Once they got out Yoh stopped and looked around.

"What's wrong?" Nox asked in concern.

"Well to be honest, I have no idea where Pache village is." Yoh said, somewhat embarrassed.

"… It's that way." Nox said while pointing south west.

"How do you know?" Yoh asked surprised.

"I was around for the last few shaman tournaments." Nox replied while walking in the direction he pointed to.

"Nox, how old are you?" Yoh asked while following him.

"In August I'll be 975,615 years old." Nox said with a smirk.

"Wow, we're going to have to trade stories some time, I don't think I'll be able to match yours though." Yoh said with a carefree laugh.

"I'd like that... Now keep up, you don't want me leaving you behind do you? Haha you know what, I'll race you, lets go!" Nox shouted as he began to break into a run.

"Eh? No fair Nox, you got a head start." Yoh said as he ran after Nox on their way to Pache village.

XxX

"Lyserg, are you sure we're going the right way?" Ren asked while trying to ignore Horohoro, who was snowboarding in the middle of the snowstorm.

"I'm pretty sure, but the snow storm might be interfering with my dowsing ability." Lyserg said while trying not to get frozen by icy blasts of wind.

"But you're pretty sure we're going in the general direction, right?" Ryu asked worriedly.

"The only thing I know for sure right now, is that we're lost." Lyserg said while looking into the storm.

"Well then, we should probably find a place to get out of this storm or else you guys could end up as snowman." Amidamaru said as he flew around, searching for a cave of some sort. After a few minutes Amidamaru came back and led everyone to a nearby cave. They chatted about the shaman tournament, all of their pasts and how the came together and eventually they talked about Yoh.

"Do you think that he'll survive long in a fight without Amidamaru?" Horohoro asked while looking a Amidamaru.

"No, but I think master Yoh will find another guardian ghost sense I am not with him." Amidamaru said hopefully.

Do you think he even survived? I mean he was fighting three of those things, maybe more, and we just barely survived when we were fighting only one or two..." Horohoro trailed off.

"What about if Yoh comes back? Who will be his spirit partner?" Ryu asked doubtfully.

"It's not against the rules of the tournament for someone to have more that one guardian ghost, and I do not mind sharing master Yoh." Amidamaru said, stopping when he saw Lyserg's expression.

"What's wrong my protégé?" Ryu asked, concerned.

"There only one evil person with this kind of furryoku." Lyserg growled as he ran out of the cave, everyone followed shortly behind him. They all glared at who was in front of them, Hao.

"What are you doing here?" Ren snapped while summoning his oversoul.

"Save it Ren, I didn't come to fight today." Hao replied passively.

"If your not here to fight then get lost." Lyserg growled while clenching his teeth.

"Ok... I thought all of you were worried if Yoh survived after you got separated... my mistake." Hao said as he began to walk away.

"Wait, what do you mean, is Yoh alright?" Amidamaru asked worriedly.

"He was fine last time I checked, in fact, he was off searching for all of you if I recall correctly." Hao said before he teleported away.

"I hate him." Lyserg said after Hao left.

"Me to, but at least now we know that Yoh's alive." Ryu said as they all continued walking towards Pache village.

xXx

Me: A lot of dialogue in this chapter... I tend to do that when ever a new character enters.

Nox: No, you tend to do that in general...

Me: Ok, I'll try to get used to writing descriptions.

Nox: I read the comments, why don't you write one those?

Me:...It's not necessarily that I wont, its more like I can't yet...

Nox:...That's all you're going to say for now isn't it?

Me: Yep, now please review. ^ ^


	13. Reunited

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**On with the story:)**

xXx

Yoh and Nox decided to stop for the day so that they could work on creating an oversoul, they had tried many times previously but none of them had worked. They tried switching mediums and eventually they managed to create a successful oversoul, the only mediums that worked were the wind, claws and Yoh himself. For the time being they decided to only fight with the wind or the claws as the oversoul, even though the oversoul with Yoh as the medium was stronger they couldn't control it yet, they still practiced it but they decided not to use it around others. After they created their oversoul they began training and after a week they could move in complete harmony.

'_Nox is pretty neat, but I don't think he'll get along well with Amidamaru, I hope they'll at least put up with each other though._' Yoh thought as they cooked two fish over the camp fire. '_I was surprised when Nox told me that he can eat even though he's a spirit, there are a lot of things about him that I would like to ask._' Yoh thought while staring at Nox. '_Then why don't you?_' Nox asked through the thought. '_What?... How are we talking through our thoughts?_' Yoh thought in surprise. '_It's called telepathy and we can communicate through it because we're connected... I'm sorry I waited until now to tell you._' Nox whimpered telepathically. '_I don't mind, but how did this happen?_' Yoh thought while taking a bite of his fish. '_Your strange abilities and the fact that I'm a __visio nocturna, __along with the time that you cut your hand on the statue, sped up the process of our spiritual connection and made this possible. Even if one of us tries to block out our thoughts we can still read the each others._' Nox explained.

"I see, can I do it with anyone else or just you?" Yoh asked, a little surprised at the sound of his own voice.

"You can only do it with me, but you may occasionally be able to pick up a thought or two from others if you try." Nox said after finishing his fish.

"Ok, it's late though, I had better try to get some sleep." Yoh said through a yawn.

"Alright, I'll meet you in the dream realm then... I'll explain once you're there." Nox yawned before he fell asleep.

"What?" Yoh asked as he looked down at Nox.

Yoh stared off into space for a moment before deciding to go to asleep and let Nox explain once he saw him.

XxX

When Yoh opened his eyes he was surprised to see that he was in a forest filled with doors, Yoh looked around for a moment before he saw Nox sitting on a patch of grass, waiting for him to come over. Yoh walked over and sat down next to Nox.

"Judging by your expression, I'm guessing you haven't been here that often." Nox said as he watched a few owls fly by.

"Actually, this is only my second time being here... where is here anyway?" Yoh asked in confusion.

"We're in the dream catacombs, after you fell asleep I called you here so that we could explore together and maybe uncover a few more of your abilities." Nox explained as he stood up.

"Ok, where should we start?" Yoh asked eagerly.

"Let's start by looking for the dreams of your friends." Nox said, simply.

"Can we do that?" Yoh asked in surprise.

"I can specifically search and find just about any dream as long as I've seen the person before, unfortunately I have never met your friends so I can't do that with them. We ether have to search every door until we find the one that leads to your friends dreams or you could use your abilities to track the dream." Nox explained, calmly.

"How do I do that?" Yoh asked curiously.

"The same way you opened the door to my dreams." Nox said as he waited for Yoh to catch on.

Yoh nodded in under standing then he closed his eyes and focused his spiritual energy to call out to his friends as he began walking. When Yoh opened his eyes he was standing in front of a purple door with the Tao's yin yang symbol on it, Yoh carefully opened the door and walked inside with Nox following quietly behind him into a motel closet. They herd noises just outside the closet so they decided to go out and see what it was. Nox went out of the closet first to have a look around, Yoh was just about to come out when Nox quickly shoved him back in. '_What was that for?_' Yoh thought irritably. '_Yoh... you're to young to see that, I'll just say that Ren and Horohoro were making out and I'll leave you to come to your own conclusions about what I'm leaving out... now the door to exit the dream is over here, right?_' Nox thought while pushing Yoh through the door and out of the dream. Yoh was blushing as they walked over to one of Yoh's other friends dreams.

The next door was green with a dowsing pendulum hanging on it. Nox entered first just in case there was something ahead like what he saw in the previous dream. After a moment Yoh followed Nox inside and he soon realized that they were inside a burning house. '_It's a lucid dream, he's calling back a memory of the past... Yoh, at the moment he can't see us but if he calls you into his dream you may be able to talk to him. It would a good idea if you talked to him in a way that doesn't make it seem unusual._' Nox informed telepathically. Yoh merely nodded in response as they watched the memory of the day Lysergs parents died unfold before them. After the memory was over Lyserg called forth an image of Hao's current self as well as Yoh. Yoh walked silently over to Lyserg while keeping in mind that Lyserg didn't know that he was actually there.

"I know that Yoh isn't with Hao but I also know they're connected, but how?" Lyserg muttered to himself.

"What if we are?" Yoh asked in an emotionless tone.

Lyserg was startled by the fact that Yoh actually talked. "Isn't this just a dream?" Lyserg asked in surprise.

"Yes it is, your subconscious allowed me to talk so that I might be able to help you figure some things out. Now back to the question I asked before, What if we are?" Yoh repeated in the same emotionless tone.

"I don't think I would be able to trust you then." Lyserg answered sadly.

"Why? Even if we are connected in some way that still doesn't change who I am." Yoh said simply.

"You're right and it's not like I would hate you or anything... I just don't think I would be able to trust you... I want to ask you about it in reality but I'm worried that you'll avoid me." Lyserg said calmly.

"Don't be worried. If you ask me, I wont lie to you Lyserg." Yoh said as the dream disappeared.

xXx

Yoh woke up and looked around, he sighed and turned to look at Nox.

"Well, we found my friends dreams. How are we going to find them?" Yoh asked calmly.

"Leave that to me." Nox said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Yoh asked in a confused tone.

"I may be a demon but I'm still a fox, and like dogs, foxes have a good sense of smell. While we were in the dream I was able to recognize your friends scent and now I can track them." Nox explained.

"That's great, which way are they?" Yoh asked exitedly.

"I'll take you there, hop on." Nox said while crouching down so that Yoh could get on his back.

"Are we using the wind as the oversoul?" Yoh asked uncertainly.

"Yes, now hop on." Nox repeated while rolling his eyes.

Yoh carefully got on Nox's back and held on tightly to his fur as Nox took to the sky. Nox spread his wings fully to get a feel for where the wind currents were and once he did that they were flying with out much trouble at all. Yoh tried not to look down but he couldn't help it, once he looked he was surprised to see that he wasn't scared of heights anymore, now Yoh stared in awe at the beautiful scenery below. They flew for about four hours in silence until Nox finally spoke.

"Hey Yoh, once we get to where your friends are I'm going to change into my chibi form and please don't tell them about my abilities or that I have any other forms than that." Nox asked cautiously.

"Ok, how many forms do you have?" Yoh asked curiously.

"Five, and I'm a shapeshifter so I can turn into a human or other animals if I want to." Nox said calmly.

"I was wondering, why don't you want me to tell my friend that much about you?" Yoh asked .

"Yoh, I trust you... but I trust _only_ you. I still hate humans and shaman _are_ human, you are the only exception." Nox explained coolly.

"I understand." Yoh replied, a little disappointed that Nox wouldn't trust others.

Nox landed about a mile away from the town where Yoh's friends were and once Yoh got off his back he changed into his chibi form. His chibi form wasn't much different from his usual aside from the fact that he went from being almost as tall as Yoh to being the size of a cat and the fact that he now wore a dark blue collar with a black, metal, broken heart with his name carved into it at the end. Yoh walked a mile to a decently busy gas station on the edge of town while carrying Nox on his head. They entered the gas station and walked over to the front desk to order a cheese burger, he paid with exact change and the desk clerk handed him his meal. Yoh began to walk over to an unoccupied table when someone hugged him from behind.

Yoh turned around face the person and he saw Horohoro crying in happiness while hugging Yoh tightly in fear that he might just disappear again. After about ten minutes of Yoh thoroughly explaining that he wouldn't disappear, Horohoro finally let him go. Then Horohoro grabbed Yoh's hand and dragged him half way across town until they came to a broken down hotel. They walked over to one of the rooms, Horohoro opened the door and pushed Yoh inside before following him inside a second later. Everyone in the room stared at Yoh in shock and silence until Amidamaru came in through wall to see why everyone had gone silent.

"MASTER YOH!" Amidamaru shouted happily as he flew over and gave Yoh a spirit hug.

"Happy to see you again Amidamaru." Yoh said with a smile.

"And I thought I told Horohoro not to bring back anything that wasn't on the list, I'm glad he didn't listen." Ren said while taking a drink of milk.

"Are you all right master Yoh?" Ryu asked, checking for any injuries.

"I was hurt when that creature separated me from you guys but the wound has been healing nicely, so I'm fine." Yoh said with a carefree laugh.

"Hey Yoh, What's that on your head?" Lyserg asked while staring directly at Nox.

Yoh took in a deep breath. "Everyone, this is Nox, my spirit partner." Yoh said while taking Nox off his head and holding him in his arms.

"I see, he seems to like you, will he mind working together with me to make an oversoul?" Amidamaru asked calmly.

"I won't mind, I'm surprised that you're not mad at us though." Nox said, surprised to find that his voice was cute now, due to his change in size.

"I'm not mad because I know that master Yoh would have had to find another spirit in order to survive in case another shaman were to challenge him to a fight." Amidamaru explained.

"I'm happy that your not mad Amidamaru." Yoh said, feeling relieved.

"Well now that we're all together again lets get back to looking for Pache village, we only have three days left to find it." Lyserg pointed out.

"All right, lets go." Yoh said with a carefree smile. Then they all left the town in search of Pache village.

XxX

Another chapter finished... In case anyone was wondering what Nox looks like, I am going to post a few pictures of him on my deviantart soon, I have the same username.

**Touch of Green: **Kyuubi did inspire something about Nox that is going to come later in the story, but not Nox himself. I only noticed the similarities between the two after reading the comments and rereading the last two chapters... I guess I'm kinda slow that way :)

**Boblove123:** I'm surprised that two people said that Nox reminded them of Kyuubi, but now that I've reread chapters 11 and 12, I can see the resemblance as well, I'm glad you like the story though. ^ ^

**SK-fan7:** I'm happy that you like Nox and I'm glad that you like the story. :)


	14. Lyserg leaves

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_'

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**On with the story:)**

XxX

After they left the town Yoh began following Nox as everyone just stared in confusion.

"Hey Yoh, Why are you following him?" Lyserg asked, a little surprised.

"Because I'm pretty sure I know where Pache village is." Nox replied simply.

"How?" Ren asked in a suspicious tone.

"In the forest where I lived before I met Yoh, there were these birds that would talk about some place called the Patch village when they stopped to rest... scratch that, they wouldn't shut up about it and because of my situation I couldn't leave. I was forced to listen to their annoying babbling about where is was, what was happening in it, and more, because of that I also learned where Pache village is." Nox explained cutely while still walking ahead.

Everyone stared blankly at Nox for a moment, then they all followed him as well. When after a while they decided to take a short break, everyone told stories to each other while laughing like they didn't have a care I the world. Lyserg was the only one who wasn't joining in on the story telling, he just stared blankly at Yoh. '_He's going to ask you soon, how do you think he'll react when you tell him?_' Nox asked telepathically. Yoh continued laughing with everyone for a few more minutes before they all settled down so that they were now back to only telling stories. '_I don't think the reaction will be a positive one to say the least, but it looks like I'm about to find out if I'm right._' Yoh answered as he turned his gaze to Lyserg, who began to speak up.

"Hey Yoh, can I ask you something?" Lyserg asked cautiously.

"Sure, what is it Lyserg?" Yoh replied in his usual care free tone.

"Are you connected to Hao in someway?" Lyserg asked, everyone became silent after Lyserg had asked.

Ryu was about to open his mouth to reply, saying that there was no way they could be, when Yoh cut him off.

"Yes, I am." Yoh answered slowly. Everyone except for Nox, stared in shock at Yoh after hearing what he just said.

"How?" Lyserg asked, his voice becoming a bit shaky.

"Hao and I are twin brothers." Yoh replied as he began to pet Nox's head.

"...Have you always known?" Ren asked carefully.

"No." Yoh replied simply.

"When did you find out?" Horohoro asked, trying not to lose his calm.

"The day before Lyserg joined the group." Yoh answered calmly.

"Why didn't you tell me when we first met?" Lyserg asked, barely able to control his anger.

"Do you view me different now that you know?" Yoh asked, looking up at Lyserg.

"Of course, your Hao's twin, why wouldn't I?" Lyserg almost yelled.

"That, is why I didn't tell you. If I had told you back then, we wouldn't have became friends." Yoh replied cautiously.

"… I'm sorry Yoh, but you are Hao's brother and I'm afraid that I just can't trust you anymore." Lyserg said as he got up and walked away.

Yoh stared as Lyserg left and the he turned and looked back at his friends. "What are all of your opinions on all of this?"

"I'm sure as hell annoyed that you didn't tell us sooner, but I'm not going to blame you for something a family member has done." Ren said irritably.

"Yea dude, I agree with Ren, you should have just told us." Horohoro said with a surprised expression.

"You may be Hao's brother, but it is not like you are actually Hao himself so why would we hate you for what he has done?" Ryu replied with a smile.

"Thanks guys." Yoh said somewhat relieved as Horohoro and Ryu came over and hugged him. Ren only gave Yoh a smile so that way he could keep his doesn't-care-about-others act.

"I hate to break up the moment, but we should probably keep moving." Nox pointed out as he started walking, everyone else soon followed. After a few hours they eventually reached the beginning of a red canyon with a small river running through it, as they were walking Nox stopped and turned around. Everyone glanced at each other in confusion before they all looked in the same direction that Nox was looking and saw Anna, Tamao, Jun, Manta and Faust walking over to them.

xXx

**Sorry for the very short chapter, I've been kind of preoccupied with something else... You'll find out what that is later... for now, Please review:)**


	15. Who are they?

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

~_Is when someone inexperienced (basically Yoh) is reading someone else's thoughts~..._~~ _is when someone experienced is reading another's thoughts_~~(In other words Nox, Hao doesn't need a ~ because he is constantly reading others people's minds unlike Nox who can chose when he wants to.)

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**On with the story:)**

xXx

"Anna, Tamao, Jun, Manta!...and Faust?" Yoh exclaimed in disbelief. "What are all of you doing here?" Yoh asked while staring as they walked over.

"Tamao, Manta, Faust and I came to see you, Jun came for Ren." Anna stated as she looked down at Nox in confusion. "What is that?" Anna asked pointing towards Nox.

"_That's twice now that I have been called a 'that'. Isn't it at least clear that I'm male?"_ Nox muttered in an almost inaudible tone as he twitched his ears slightly in irritation.

"Um, he's Nox and due to a few unexpected events, Nox is now my spirit partner along with Amidamaru." Yoh said while petting Nox, trying to get him to calm down.

Anna, Tamao, Jun, Manta and Faust all listened as Yoh told them about what happened after they left Tokyo in the Patch plane. Yoh told them about how they were thrown out of the plane, their meting with Lilirara and eventually when they teemed up with Lyserg. Yoh also told them about how he had gotten separated from everyone when they were attacked by a pack of demon bear hound creatures and how he was rescued by a team of three shaman girls who helped him after he was pushed off a cliff by one of the creatures. Yoh explained that after convincing the girl that decided to go with him that he was fine and could take care of himself, she went back to her friends and he continued walking until he eventually reached a dark forest. Finally Yoh everyone about how while when he was walking in the forest he met Nox who was bored and spiritually bound to a tree for trying to bite an arrogant monk. After he freed Nox from the binding Nox decided to come with him as his spirit partner. Yoh didn't like to lie, but he didn't think that it was the right time to tell them about what happened with Hao and he didn't think that they would understand about Nox and his own strange abilities that allowed him to meet Nox in the first place just yet so even though he hated lying he decided that for the time being, it was necessary. Anna and Ren were the only ones that thought Yoh was leaving something out about during the time-span of when he fell off the cliff and met Nox, as well as when he reunited with everyone but just as one of them was about to say something, Yoh asked about Faust. Anna quickly explained how she had brought back Eliza's spirit and that Faust was going to be joining Yoh's team. Yoh nodded in understanding but before any of them could say another word Nox pushed Ren out of the way of a surprise attack. After Ren got over the fact that such a small spirit actually managed to push him, he looked up to see just who exactly had attacked him and he found himself staring at three strange girls.

"Hana-gumi? What are all of you doing here... and why did you attack Ren?" Yoh asked in suprise. Everyone stared blankly at Yoh until Anna spoke up.

"You know them?" Anna asked in shock.

"They're the girls that helped me after I fell off the cliff." Yoh explained as he looked at the girls.

"Yea, but you should probably know that the story we told you was a lie... We didn't find you at the bottom of the cliff like we originally told you, Hao-sama brought you to us and told us to make sure you were alright. We came here today to get rid of a few of your friends, another one of Hao-sama's orders." Kana said as she lit her cigaret.

"What!" Everyone exclaimed in surprise as the three girls started attacking. Matilda fought against Ryu, Faust, and Horohoro while Kana attacked Ren, Jun, and Anna. Marion stood an front of Yoh with her oversoul and ready to fight. ~_ I wonder why Hao-sama told us to tell Yoh that we lied to him shortly after he told us to be careful not to let him know that we knew him in the first place... Matilda has also been acting strange ever sense she came back... I wonder what's wrong..._~ Yoh blinked in confusion a moment before Mari attacked. '_What was that?_' Yoh thought as he dodged a from bullets from Mari's spirit guardian, Chuck. '_I'll explain later, for now just form an oversoul with me and Amidamaru._' Nox said telepathically while Yoh nodded in understanding. Yoh formed his sword oversoul with Amidamaru and added his claw with Nox and bound them to together to create a black scythe-like oversoul which surprised the three of them. Anna summoned two shikigami spirits to defeat Kana and Matilda while Yoh surprisingly defeated Mari, after they were defeated they looked up at everyone in confusion.

"We were trained by Hao-sama, the greatest shaman in history, so how could we lose?" Mari asked hopelessly.

"You were so busy bending your will to Hao's that you didn't even try to have a will of your own, that's why you lost and if you don't get lost I'm sure zenki and koki would be more than pleased to send you packing." Anna said as her two shikigami spirits took a step forward to prove her point.

"As if." Kana countered after regaining her composure.

"Turn around." Mari said with a glare.

Everyone looked behind them to see the Spirit of Fire towering overhead while lowering it's hand so that it's master could jump off, everyone was ready to fight in case he attacked. Hao glanced over at the girls and gave them a you-can-go-now look, the girls nodded in understanding before they teleported elsewhere. Hao turned and walked towards Yoh after the girls left, Yoh's friends cautiously allowed Hao to pass without any trouble, he stopped walking once he was standing right next to Yoh.

"I'm impressed by your progress, you might be ready to join me sooner than I originally thought." Hao said as he moved a little closer to Yoh so that he say something that no one else would hear.

"_Regardless of whether or not you actually join me doesn't matter, you will be mine eventually. If you're ever alone with me like that one time, I'm pretty sure you'll know exactly how you'll be mine then.__"_ Hao whispered before backing away and beginning to walk over to his followers who were waiting just ahead.

"See you soon, Otouto." Hao said as he and his followers teleported elsewhere.

Anna, Tamao, Manta, Jun and Faust all stared at Yoh in shock while wondering if he and Hao were actually brothers. Ren, Horohoro, Ryu and Amidamaru stared at Yoh in surprise that Hao would actually call him Otouto so openly.

"Did he just say, Otouto?" Ren asked blankly.

"Yes, Hao and Yoh are twin brothers." A man wearing a tengu mask said as he appeared directly behind everyone.

"And how would you know?" Ren snapped as her pointed his Quan-dao at the stranger.

"Well, because that's Yoh's dad." Ryu said as he looked at Ren.

"My name is Mikihisa Asakura, nice to meet you." Mikihisa said as he began explaining the story of he twin's birth to everyone. After he had finished explaining what had happened on the day of Yoh's birth everyone was quiet for a few moments.

"So that's how Hao escaped." Horohoro said while looking at Mikihisa.

"We already knew about the fact that Hao and Yoh are twins, we didn't know that there was such a story behind itr though." Ren said as he also stared at Mikihisa.

"You already knew?" Mikihisa asked somewhat confused.

"Yes, master Yoh told us yesterday." Ryu said simply.

Mikihisa and Anna both turned their gaze towards Yoh. "How did you know?" Mikihisa asked Yoh.

"Long story and we only have two days to find Pache village so I think the story will have to wait until then." Yoh said with a carefree smile as he started walking. Everyone looked at each other uncertainly before they started following Yoh. As they were walking a group of people wearing white with a gray X on the front of their shirts walked up to them with Lyserg among them. Ren glanced at Yoh and was surprised to see that his face had paled for a moment when he first saw these people.

"Who are you?" Ren asked with a firm grip on his Quan-dao.

"My name is Marco and we are the X-Laws."

XxX

**Me: **Sorry it took so long to update and I apologize if this chapter was a bit boring I'll try to make the next chapter a bit more interesting.

**Nox:** How are you going to do that?

**Me:** …*smiles evilly* I just got an idea for a few of my stories, thanks Nox. *starts writing*

**Nox:** I don't think I want to know...

**Yoh:** Please review.

**Nox:** Why are you in the authors note?

**Yoh:** No idea.


	16. Unexpected

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

~_Is when someone inexperienced (basically Yoh) is reading someone else's thoughts~..._~~ _is when someone experienced is reading another's thoughts_~~(In other words Nox, Hao doesn't need a ~ because he is constantly reading others people's minds unlike Nox who can chose when he wants to.)

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

**On with the story:)**

XxX

"The X-Laws?" Horohoro repeated while slightly confused.

"Why are you here?" Ren snapped angrily while noticing that Lyserg was there and standing beside Marco.

"We are here to offer you all the chance to be a part of the X-Laws. If you join the then together we may be able to destroy the source of all evil, Hao Asakura." Maco explained.

"Not interested." Yoh replied flatly.

"But Yoh, if you join the X-Laws then the iron maiden can cleanse you from evil as well. Unless you're already with Hao?" Lyserg said uncertainly.

"I'm not with Hao, I disagree with him about his ideals completely, but I won't join you ether." Yoh said calmly.

Marco looked over to Mikihisa before looking back at Yoh. "I believe that you need more time to think about it and it appears as though we have come at a bad time as well, we will go for now but we will be back and we will need your answer when we return." After Marco spoke the X-Laws walked away with Lyserg following shortly behind.

There was a long silence after the X-Laws left until Yoh once again brought up the subject of how the still needed to find Pache village so that all questions would be saved for later. They walked for about three hours before they decided to rest for the night. Yoh was the first to fall asleep and Nox was laying happily on his head.

"Has Yoh been brushing off questions like that a lot lately?" Mikihisa asked as he glanced over at Yoh and Nox.

"Not really, he's just tired." Horohoro said quickly before Ren interrupted him.

"Yes he has Baka-horo, he's been doing it ever sense the plane but he's gotten worse sense we got separated. Yoh hates lying so it's kind of obvious when he's saying something half halfheartedly." Ren said with an annoyed glare.

"You mean like when he told us about what happened after he got separated from all of you?" Anna asked as she crossed her arms.

"Well the girls didn't seem to be lying when they said that they lied to Yoh." Horohoro said with a glance at the sleeping Yoh.

"Yes, but Yoh didn't seem as surprised as he should have been if it was his first time hearing about it. I don't like to think about it but maybe he is with-" Mikihisa was quickly cut off before he could finish the last word.

"Yoh **has not** joined Hao." Nox said firmly as he opened one eye.

Everyone went silent for a moment from surprise before Ren spoke up. "I know that, but how would you know?"

"Because he told me about everything that happened after he got separated from all of you." Nox said quietly as he turned his head towards everyone.

"Why would he tell you but not his friends? No offense but he has known them longer than you." Jun stated simply.

"No offense taken, he probably told me because unlike all of you I couldn't care less about Hao, as long as he's not hurting Yoh. When all of you stop blindly viewing Hao as an evil pyromaniac then I'm pretty sure that Yoh will tell you what happened as well." Nox said before closing his eyes and once again falling asleep. Everyone looked at each other for a moment an then followed Yoh and Nox's example and went to sleep.

xXx

"Hey Nox, now that you're here could you explain what happened while I was fighting Mari?" Yoh asked as he continued to watch the clouds in the dream catacombs.

"Of course. You remember when I told you that you may occasionally be able to pick up a thought or two from others if you try? That's what happened, now is there anything else that you want to know?" Nox asked before taking a drink from the dream lake.

"...Can you help me find Hao's dream? I've been searching for it for a while but I can't find it." Yoh asked calmly.

"Sure, just give me a second." Nox replied as he closed his eyes and began focusing on Hao's Furryoku. After about ten minutes he finally found the path to Hao's dream and he began began walking, Yoh followed right behind him until they eventually reached a red door covered in stars and flames around the edges.

"I don't think we should go in, like that one time with Lyserg, Hao is also having a lucid dream." Nox said uncertainly.

"I thought you said that it would be fine as long as we don't try to talk to him." Yoh stated simply.

"...I guess, it's just the fact that Hao _is_ one of or very possibly the most powerful shaman in existence that's worrying me, so let's be careful." Nox said as he opened the door to the dream. Nox and Yoh carefully walked into the dream, the two of them were very surprised at the change of scenery. It was a little after sunset and the stars were just starting to come out. Yoh shivered slightly, this place seemed kind of familiar but for some reason he just couldn't remember why. The two of them continued to walk around the dream until Yoh froze after they came to the top of a strange hill. '_How can this be possible? Nox I know you said to be careful but I need to talk to Hao._' Yoh thought as he stared in shock at the hill that was an exact replica of the one from his first dream. Nox could sense something was off by Yoh's reaction so he didn't say a word and simply walked in the direction that he felt Hao's furryoku coming from with Yoh following shortly behind. Within a few minutes they reached the top of the hill and Yoh walked over to where Hao was sitting.

"Hello Hao." Yoh said as he took a seat next to the fire shaman.

"Otouto, what an unexpected visit, and in my dream no less." Hao mused.

"...This scenery, where did you think of it?" Yoh asked, slightly nervous.

Hao smirked at hearing Yoh's question. "In your dream, where else?"

"How did you-?" Yoh asked as his eyes widened in shock.

"A few months ago I was dreaming of my shaman only world as usual when I got an unexpected visitor, a lookalike of that friend of yours, he said his name was Len. Len entered my dream and asked if I would help be a part of your dream, he said that he had already made everything ready in the dream but there were just two things he couldn't do. Len couldn't create a lookalike of me and he couldn't seem to get you into your dream for another year so he asked if I would help and become a part of your dream as the role of the Hatter." Hao explained simply.

"Then, that was really you who kissed me In the first dream and told me that." Yoh stated, although it sounded more like a question.

"That's right." Hao answered simply.

"But you seemed surprised when you found out that I knew you could read minds and the fact that I was closing off my mind." Yoh said uncertainly.

"I was surprised that you actually told Matilda but I couldn't exactly tell you that I already knew. You learned about my mind reading ability as well as the fact that we're twins in your dream so I played ignorant. I really did want to know how you were closing off your mind though but It doesn't seem like you can fully control it yet so I can wait." Hao replied.

'..._I'm glad that nothing happened so far, maybe he said that yesterday just to freak me out._' Yoh thought before replying. "I have to go, it seems like time in the dream world tends to move slower than the actual world and tomorrow is the last day that we have to find Pache village." Yoh said as he got up and walked over to Nox.

"Alright, but you should know that I wasn't lying to you yesterday. Your spirit guardian is with you, so in other words... You weren't alone." Hao mused as Yoh walked away and the dream faded.

XxX

**Trey:** Why am I'm in the author's note now? I haven't been in the story for about 5 or 6 chapters.

**Keiko:** I want to know why I'm here to, i haven't even appeared in this story.

**Me:** No particular reason, now will one of you please say it?

**Trey:** Why us?

**Keiko:** Please review.

**Trey:** ...


	17. The Past Vision

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

**On with the story:)**

XxX

"Yoh wake up!" Anna yelled.

Yoh's eyes flashed open and he jumped out of the way just in time to avoid her slap. "I'm awake, Anna." Yoh responded quickly.

"That's better, now let's get going we still need to get to Pache village and today is the last day to find it." Anna said as she began walking away.

"Vexo Harpyia, es ingressus iniuriam modo. Est hoc modo." Nox said as he started walking in another direction. (_Irritating harpy, you are going the wrong way. It is in this way. _)

"What did he say?" Anna asked in confusion.

"Sorry, I forgot that you all can't understand me when I talk like that. I said that you're going the wrong way and that Pache village is this way." Nox said innocently as he stopped walking for a moment. Yoh looked down at Nox in surprise. '_You don't like Anna at all do you?_' Yoh thought while Nox smiled up at him. '_No I don't._' Nox replied telepathically as he got up and continued walking. Everyone nodded in understanding as they all began to follow Nox, after about three hours they reached a strange blue cave. Nox ignored their perplexed looks and walked into the cave as though nothing was wrong. Everyone else hesitated before following, after two more hours Nox stopped walking for a moment and looked up at Yoh with puppy eyes.

'_In a few more minutes we will reach the star sanctuary and once we do everyone will black out from the Great Spirit's presence. During that time of black out you will get a small glimpse of the Great Spirit's knowledge and if you try, I think you may be able to search for something in particular. I just thought that I should tell you, Oh and can I lay on your head now? My feet hurt._' Nox said telepathically. Yoh smiled and he picked up Nox and put him on his head, as soon as Yoh was sure that Nox wouldn't fall off they went back to walking and after about ten more minutes every thing went black.

XxX

Colors were flashing, the scenery was changing by the minute and the sheer knowledge flowing around Yoh was overwhelming. Yoh tried to focus and search back in time for what he wanted to know, luckily the scenery seemed to respond to his wish by flipping back through time a 1,000 years. Yoh saw a small boy playing with spirits, when his mother smiled and called him back inside. Asaha, that was the name she called him, he smiled and ran inside. Time fast forwarded and you could still see the young shaman but this time he was crying, the house was on fire and you could tell by the look on his face that the mother was still inside. Devils child, Son of the fox and demon, the children around him were calling him cruel names while throwing rocks and poor Asaha seemed to believe them.

A two year time fast forward and Asaha was walking across a bridge when he meets a demon named Ohachiyo. Ohachiyo says that the name Asaha Douji sounds kind of boring and that Mappa Douji would sound better and after talking for a while the two of them become friends. They seem to be having a lot of fun together but unfortunately the friend ship is short lived. Asaha keeps the oversoul for too long when trying to seek revenge for his dead mother and ends up absorbing Ohachiyo's soul. A 25 year fast forward and this time Asaha has grown up and he has to formed a clan of shaman but he changed his name because the shaman don't call him Asaha Douji, they call him Asakura Hao.

Yoh is starting to somewhat fade out of consciousness when he remembers one more thing that he wants to know. Time rewound 500,000 years and Yoh could see Nox standing at the edge of a battle field covered in blood and the only survivor. Unlike in the past rewinds Yoh could actually hear Nox's thoughts. '_This is the last time that I will allow myself to be betrayed, humans are horrible creatures and their existence only causes pain and destruction. I will not make the mistake of trusting someone again. They called me __**evil**__, but I wonder which one of us was truly the __**evil**__ one exactly?... Trusting others only gets you hurt so it would be better not to trust at all._

_I wonder though, will I always be alone then? I was alone for 350,000 years before I tried to trust humans in the first place... It's plainly obvious that most creatures in this world are corrupt, but are all of them?... If there is ever a time when I find someone that I believe can understand my feelings and may even become a true friend then I think I will trust them. It will not be easy for them to get a chance and it will be difficult to gain my trust. Although, I do hope that there will be a time when I can have a true friend once again._' Nox thought as he looked at the remains of the battle around him.

"Sed ego esse sola usque tunc." Nox said sadly. (_But until then I will be alone._)

Nox looked up at the sky that was busting to life with falling stars, it was kind of ironic. Nox smirked as he walked off into the shadows leaving the corpses and a trail of blood behind him. Yoh considered going back a little farther to see what had happened but he decided against it, he had been there too long already and if he stayed any longer he might not be able to leave. Yoh closed his eyes and gently faded out of consciousness.

XxX

Yoh slowly opened his eyes and carefully looked around, he was in a type of house, he didn't recognize it though. Yoh carefully sat up on the bed quickly taking notice of the fact that Nox was fast asleep on his lap.

"Oh, I'm glad to see that your awake." Said a voice from behind him.

"Silva!" Yoh exclaimed as he turned around so that he could see the Patch official.

"Hello Yoh, I was worried that you weren't going to wake up for a moment there." Silva said as he placed a glass of water next to Yoh.

"Did we get to Pache village in time? How long was I out?" Yoh asked curiously.

"Yes you are in Pache village right now and you were out for a week, much longer than your friends who woke up within a few days." Silva replied.

"I never was great at waking up on time." Yoh said with a care free laugh.

"Hey Yoh, are you awake yet?" Horohoro called through the door.

"Yea I'm awake." Yoh replied, causing Nox to wake up.

Yoh carefully got out of bed, thanked Silva for watching him, put Nox on his head and walked out the door to see his friends. Ren was waiting outside with Amidamaru, Ryu and Horohoro standing next to him, Yoh ran over to them and as soon as he reached them, his stomach growled. Everyone laughed and Ren suggested that they get something to eat, but before anyone could respond Horohoro's stomach growled in agreement.

XxX

**Me:** Life hasn't changed yet but I still got another chapter done:)

**Yoh:** Shouldn't you be working on a few of your _other_ stories now?

**Me:** ...

**Yoh:** Please review.


	18. Nox's Slight Explanation

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

**On with the story:)**

XxX

Ryu quickly found a place where everyone could eat that wasn't too crowded, everyone ordered a cheese burger and Yoh ordered two. When the food came out Yoh gave one of his cheese burgers to Nox and everyone except for Yoh was surprised when Nox actually ate it. Everyone was now talking about who would be on eachother's team, Ryu and Faust instantly wanted to be a part of Yoh's team. Ren grabbed Horohoro and looked around for someone else to team up with when a dark skinned boy with afro hair and wearing a skirt walked up to them and told a horrible joke. Horohoro and Ren had to be held back by everyone so that they wouldn't kill other shaman.

"Take it easy it was just a joke. My name is Chocolove but you all can call me Joco and this is my guardian ghost, Mic. Can I join your team?" Joco asked quickly while taking a step away from Ren and Horohoro.

"Fine, but don't tell any more of your horrible jokes." Ren snapped.

"Ok it looks like we all have our teems then. I think I'll take a walk around the island anyone want to come with?" Yoh asked with a carefree smile.

"No thanks, I think we'll pass, we need to train." Ren said as he grabbed Horohoro and Joco an began walking away.

"Sorry Yoh but Anna wants Faust and I to clean the new house." Ryu answered apologetically as he and Faust walked off in the direction of the house.

"We'll come." Nox and Amidamaru replied simultaneously.

Yoh smiled and he started walking with Amidamaru and Nox following closely behind. The three of them walked around the village first while occasionally stopping to look at a shop. It took about twenty minutes to finish walking around the village and after they were done they started walking through the forest. They stopped to watch the lake for about an hour before they continued walking through the forest.

"Hey Amidamaru what do you think of Nox? Please speak honestly." Yoh asked suddenly.

"Um, to be honest I do not like him, but I do not mind him ether. He seems to have a trust and likeness of you and I do not think that he would ever do something to hurt you so regardless of the situation, I will trust him." Amidamaru replied, a little taken off guard.

"Nox, do you trust Amidamaru?" Yoh asked, satisfied with Amidamaru's answer.

"I already told you Yoh, I hate humans and you are the only one that I trust. However, I get what you're hinting at and my answer to that is no, I do not mind." Nox said with a slight smile.

"What would that be?" Amidamaru asked somewhat confused.

"Because I do not trust anyone other than Yoh I did not want anyone to know much about me, but because Yoh want's me to, I guess I can show you." Nox said passively.

Amidamaru gave a confused look but quickly understood what they were talking about when Nox changed back to his usual form that was only about 3 inches shorter than Yoh, counting the ears but not the wings. Nox stretched his wings out a bit and took a quick flight around the lake before changing back to chibi form. After Nox changed back Yoh also told Amidamaru about his dreams, lack of dreams and what really happened after he got separated and he didn't leave anything out. Amidamru looked a little shocked for a moment but he merely shook it of and the three of them continued their walk. Shortly before they arrived at the house Yoh stopped walking and both Amidamaru and Nox looked at him with a confused look.

"Amidamaru, do you think any differently of me or Nox now?" Yoh asked, slightly concerned.

"For Nox, somewhat, but I also understand that he has his reasons and I will respect that. About you master Yoh, I still trust and respect you completely. I did find it very shocking that Hao has that sort of interest in you and I was twice as shocked when you told me that you also have an interest in Hao, but I do not think of you any less because of it."

Amidamaru smiled at the two of them before continuing. "I think I will go inside ahead of you two, Yoh still seems like he want's to ask you something Nox, and you made it clear that you don't trust me yet and I will respect that. I hope that you will trust me one day though." Amidamaru said shortly before he headed towards the house.

Yoh and Nox walked to the beach where the sunset was clearly visible. The two of them silently watched the sunset together and waited for the stars to come out. Once the stars were out Yoh decided to speak.

"Why do you hate humans so much and How is it much different from Hao's?" Yoh asked.

"What did you see in the great spirit that made you want to ask?" Nox asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I saw you alone, in the middle of a battle field, surrounded by corpses, I could hear your thoughts. Do you know the time that I'm talking about?" Yoh asked.

"Yes, that was when two emperor's each of equally powerful opposing kingdoms decided that I was too much of a threat to let live so they teamed up and together they sent their entire combined army's out to try and kill me and well, you know how that went. But it was the one I trusted, my first human friend, Rima, who was the one that told them I was a demon and a threat that needed to be destroyed to begin with. She did so to try to gain glory for helping try and defeat me and before she died she said something that scarred far worse than any physical wound. She said that she only ever viewed me as a monster, devil and evil spirit.

She said that the reason why she tried so hard to become friend was for the sole purpose of finding something that she could use to banish my evil spirit from existence completely. After that indecent I received two more nicknames, they were 'messor umbra' and 'ululabit mortis', most humans who had herd of me called me one of those. I never trusted others easily after the first two incidents before, that but this caused me to lose my trust in others completely. I was completely alone, that is, until I met you. You are the only one that I truly consider my friend, I am beginning to slightly trust Hao and Amidamaru as well, but the three of you are the only ones that I trust." Nox explained as he stared up at the stars.

"Oh... What were the first two incidents that you mentioned?" Yoh asked, somewhat trying to cheer up the mood.

"It's late and that is a story for another day. Lets get back to the house so we can get some sleep, you never know when we're going to get a match." Nox replied with a simple laugh as he ran ahead.

Yoh smiled as he ran after Nox desperately hoping that Anna was asleep when they got back. If only the Great spirit would have granted his wish. Yoh walked inside the house and the first thing he got was a slap on the face.

"Do you know what time it is? Even if we're not engaged anymore that doesn't mean that you can slack of on training for the day." Anna said while tapping her foot impatiently.

"Yes Anna." Yoh answered carefrully.

"Next time if you want to go on a walk around the island you should take your weights with you. I am also going to double your training tomorrow, understand?" Anna asked irritably.

"Yes Anna." Yoh replied as a waterfall of tears began to flow.

"Now go to sleep, it's late." Anna snapped as she walked back to her room.

"Yes Anna." Yoh replied as he went upstairs and went to sleep.

XxX

**Me:** When I finished the last chapter I made it a bit too long to be only one chapter so I cut it in half and made two chapters. I just had to finish this chapter. Oh, and to those of you who were wondering, 'messor umbra' means 'the shadow of the reaper' and 'ululabit mortis' means 'howl of death'.

**Keiko: **You've been writing quicker than usual, have you been drinking Mountain dew again?**  
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**Me: **...Maybe...

**Keiko:** _Sigh,_ Oh well. Please review.


	19. Mermory's Grave

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

**On with the story:)**

XxX

Yoh found himself alone in the dark dream-world once again. '_...It's been a while since I've been here._' Yoh thought as he looked around. Usually when Yoh came to the dream-world it was pleasant and sunny with the unusually clear lake glistening in the sunlight. Doors were floating in midair and the clouds would form a staircase whenever you wanted to reach one. This time Yoh was in the dark dream-world, where it seemed like an endless maze. The walls were made of thorns and staircases lead anywhere and nowhere. The sun didn't exist here and the stars were few and dim. The greatest source of light was the eerie crescent moon which gave off a slight reddish glow, just enough light that you could see what's around you.

'_...Last time I was here, was also the first time I ever entered the dream-world... and the first time I met Nox as well._' Yoh thought as he began walking through the maze. After walking through the maze for a while, Yoh noticed that the maze was slowly changing. The more Yoh walked, the thicker the thorns would grow. Some staircases would disappear, while new ones would form in other areas. After a while Yoh came across Nox's door, but this time it was partially open. Yoh paused for a moment before going inside, inside the door was much different than the last time. Last time it was completely black and impossible to see anything, this time he was in a eerie foggy forest. Yoh thought that the forest he broke Nox's curse in was creepy, that forest wasn't much compared to this one. With the way that the fog was rolling in and with the crows and owls flying overhead, it almost looked like the forest was bordering the spirit world itself.

'_I wonder, is this Nox's dream?_' Yoh was snapped out of his thoughts when suddenly he herd a vicious snarl from behind him. Yoh turned around just in time to see a ghostly black wolf jump out from within the thorn bushes before it tried to bite him. Yoh ran when some black foxes a few more black wolfs appeared and started attacking. While Yoh was running he noticed that the closer he came to the heart of the forest, the more the foxes and wolfs numbers would seem to lessen. Once Yoh stumbled into the clearing he looked back. The foxes and wolfs had abandoned the chase and were now nowhere in sight.

Yoh carefully looked around, the fog had lessened considerably but was still hiding everything in the far distance from view. The only things that Yoh could see were the blue full moon, the flying owls who's eyes seemed to glow red, and the unearthly sakura tree off in the distance. Yoh felt slightly drawn to the sakura tree for a reason that he didn't understand. Yoh started walking over to the unearthly tree and as he came closer he noticed the strange colors of the tree. Normally sakura trees had strong dark brown wood with and pink sakura flowers decorating the branches which were fixed in place. This sakura tree was different, it almost looked like a cross with a weeping willow. This sakura tree was tall with smooth ethereal white wood and the branches were long and slender, bending and flowing with the wind. The flowers were majestic and serene, they were a celestial light blue color which seemed to glow in the moonlight. Once Yoh was at the base of the tree he saw something else that he couldn't see before, at the base of the tree were three tombstones. Yoh carefully read the names and description of each each stone.

_**First**_ R.I.P Nakai Somnii. You saved me from dying as a kit when you found me alone in the forest. Then you raised me as a part of the family along with your younger brother. Even though I wasn't related to you by blood you always treated me like your precious little brother and for that I am eternally grateful. I wish that I could have spent more time with you and I will always regret that a wasn't able to save you that day... I pray that you rest in peace, Aniki.

_**Seccond **_R.I.P Shikiri Somnii. When Nakai brought me home that day he had to leave me with you so that he could argue with the clan elder about my entrance to the clan. While he was still there you whined about how you didn't want a little brother and told him to take me back. When Nakai left, however, you held me and looked after me and then told me "When big brother is around I'll whine like you wont believe. Although, I'm glad you're here little brother." You always loved messing with me and nagging about every little thing. I didn't know it at the time but that was the way you showed that you cared and I'm happy for that. Other clan members would criticize you agreeing with Aniki and keeping me around. You stood up for me though, saying that you were my Niisan and you were proud of it. You and Aniki saved my life twice... I only wish that the last time didn't have to cost you your life. I hope you rest in peace, Niisan.

_**Third **_R.I.P Kangi Vespillo. Thank you for helping me find my reason to live when I had lost all hope. When my brothers died and I was exiled from the clan you took me in and raised me as though I was your own son. You were cruel to others but kind to those who you were close to. When I fell in love with Nascha, the one who you saved before me, I thought that you would be mad. I was shocked when you actually encouraged me to ask her out. I may never know why you saved me that day but I am glad that I was able to meet you. When the onmyouji came to exorcize our spirits you held them off so that Nascha and I could get away. That day you made me promise to keep her safe, a promise that I swore to fulfill. I'm sorry that I could only keep that promise for a year... Please, rest in peace, Otousan.

Yoh had just finished reading when the dream started to fade. The door to exit the dream appeared in front of him and he quickly went out the door mere moments before the dream disappeared. Yoh stared of into space for a moment before he started walking. Yoh payed attention to the surroundings he walked, the scenery had slowly begun to change so that he was now on the boarder of the dark dream-world and somewhere else that he hadn't been to before. "_Did Nox let me in so that I could see the graves?"_ Yoh muttered as he looked back in the direction where Nox's door used to be.

"Maybe, I don't know Nox so I wouldn't know." A familiar voice said from behind him.

_Yoh, Wake up. _

"Len!" Yoh exclaimed as he turned around to see Len smile just before he disappeared.

_Yoh!_

xXx

"Wake up, Yoh! Anna's going to wake up soon!" Nox exclaimed as he jumped on Yoh's head in a final attempt to wake him up.

Yoh slowly opened his eyes. "What time is it?" He asked groggily.

"8:00! Ryu's out training and you're supposed to make breakfast this morning, remember?" Nox and Amidamaru asked in union.

"...Oh, right." Yoh said as he got up, got dressed and went downstairs to go make breakfast.

"I'm still getting used to his laid back personality." Nox said as he watched Yoh get to work on his chores.

"It certainly is something unusual, but it's also his most well known trait." Amidamaru said with I slight chuckle.

"Amidamaru, are you most worried about the X-Laws currently?" Nox asked cautiously.

"Yes, they seem like the greatest cause of concern to me right now. Do you feel the same?" Amidamaru replied.

"No. The X-Laws are a cause of concern, but I feel that two other things are more worrisome right now." Nox said softly.

"What could be more worrying?" Amiamaru asked somewhat concerned.

"The three things that worry me are: 3-The X-Laws. 2-Something I still can't identify. 1-What would happen if Yoh's family found out about my past or Hao and Yoh's feelings for eachother." Nox said as he looked over at Amidamaru.

"They would not be happy and they would probably not let Yoh anywhere near you or Hao. But they're his family, they wouldn't do anything to hurt Yoh." Amidamaru said certainly.

"...Even if it meant possibly getting rid of Hao?" Nox questioned.

"..." Amidamaru went deathly silent after Nox's last comment.

"Ether way, lets hope that I am merely overreacting." Nox said before he and Amidamaru went over to Yoh, who had just finished making breakfast.

XxX

**Me: **Finally, another chapter finished.

**Hao: **When will I appear again?

**Me: **Not sure yet.

**Lyserg:** Why am I in the authors note if **he** is here?

**Me:** Because I thought it would be amusing to see your reaction. *creates invisible wall in between the two.*

**Lyserg:** *Glares*

**Me:** Now one of you can say it.

**Lyserg:** I wont say it.

**Hao: **You expect me to? As if.

**Manta:** Please review.

**Hao:** ... A human?


	20. The Evaluation

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically"

Oh and just so you know, it's been about three weeks sense the last chapter.** Now on with the story:)**

XxX

"Yoh, I think it would be a good idea if you, Horohoro, Ren and Joco all came out to train with me today." Mikihisa said as he finished his dinner.

"Um, Ok." Yoh replied, looking over to his friends who didn't seem to object.

"Great! Be at the training ground in once you're finished." Mikihisa said shortly before taking off.

A few minutes later everyone was finished eating and now walking over to the training area. The training area was a few hours away and Len, Horohoro and Joco were talking about different strategy ideas as they walked. Nox had used his abilities to ad Amidamaru to the telepathy link. Now the three of them were in a telepathic conversation that no one else could hear. Yoh explained what happened when he went to sleep and about how he went to the dark dream-world. Amidamaru was at a loss for words when Yoh described the graves and looked down at Nox sympathetically. Nox was shocked when Yoh mentioned meeting Len shortly before waking up. Noticing that they were reaching the training ground Nox explained that they should talk again later and then he severed the telepathic link.

"Good, you're all here. The first thing I am going to do is evaluate all of your abilities. Team The Ren is first." Mikihisa explained while motioning for Ren to step up first. Yoh, Faust, Ryu, Joco and Horohoro could tell that Mikihisa was going to be testing them all individually first before testing their teams. Anna had come prepared and quickly spread out a picnic blanket for everyone to sit on. They all thanked Anna before turning their attention to Ren's evaluation. Unknown to everyone but Nox and Amidamaru, they were not the only ones watching. Nox telepathically informed Yoh that the X-Laxs were in the nearby forest so that they could watch without being seen. Nox also informed that the X-Laws weren't the only ones watching, Hao was on a nearby cliff looking down and doing his own evaluation of their abilities. Yoh nodded slightly to show that he understood before he began watching Ren's evaluation.

Mikihisa told Ren that he had 5 minutes to try and defeat him, during that time he would evaluate Ren's abilities. The moment that Mikihisa set the timer, Ren attacked. For the first two minutes it seemed like Ren had the advantage but after the third minute passed it was painfully obvious that Mikihisa was stronger. Ren unleashed a furry of attacks where not a single one of them hit. Ren was confused at first but he quickly realized that Mikihisa's spirit's were what made it seem so hard to hit him. Ren was about to begin another attack when the timer went off, signaling the end of his evaluation.

"I will tell you your results after I have finished evaluating everyone. Joco, you're next!" Mikihisa called as Ren sat down on the picnic blanket. Once again Mikihisa started the timer which signaled the start of the fight. Joco attacked much quicker than Ren but it was also obvious that Joco wasn't as strong as Ren ether. '_Amidamaru, Yoh? I'm just making sure, we're not going to to __**that**__ oversoul, right?_' Nox asked telepathically. '_Normally I do not agree with your paranoid attitude towards our friends but this time I do agree with you. __**That**__ oversoul would certainly get a negative reaction from the X-Laws. I don't think that everyone here would be able to understand ether._' Amidamaru replied. '_I agree with the two of you. The appearance can be very easily misunderstood. My family is already starting to doubt me __and the X-Laws don't need another reason to think that I'm evil._' Yoh said as he thought back to the time when they first created **that** oversoul.

(_Flash back, one week ago..._)

_"Hey Amidamaru, Nox, when we created that scythe oversoul before it seemed like there was a second part to it, didn't it?" Yoh pointed out as he sat down by the lake. No one else was around and the weather was nice today._

_"I thought so too, it felt like it was missing something. Do you know what it could be Nox?" Amidamaru asked as he looked at Nox, who was normal size at the moment._

_"Well, I never was fully part of that oversoul and I think that, is what might be missing." Nox replied._

_"What do you mean you weren't fully part of it?" Yoh asked, confused._

_"Amidamaru was the scythe and I was the eerie glow around it, due to that it was an incomplete triangle. I shared my spiritual energy with Amidamaru and he shared his spiritual energy with you. You weren't able to share your spiritual energy with me, however, and I couldn't share mine with you. If we fix it so that all three of us are splitting our spiritual energy with eachother then I think we can complete the oversoul." Nox explained._

_"...There are a few things I don't understand. When we met other shaman with multiple spirits, it seemed as though they merely needed different mediums and more furryoku. They didn't seem to need for the spirits to join their energy together to form the oversoul." Amidamaru said, concerned._

_"It has to do with spirit types. The most well known spirit types areas followed: Human, Animal, Nature, Demon, Deity, Unknown, and Elemental. Different spirit types equals different restrictions, the Human, Animal and Nature class are the types with the least amount of restrictions. Demon, Deity and Elemental class are the types that require a specific type of shaman to be able to form an oversoul with." Nox explained as he looked at Amidamaru and Yoh to make sure that they were following everything._

_"What about the unknown class?" Amidamaru and Yoh asked simultaneously._

_"The Unknown class is rare and almost nonexistent nowadays so not very many know of them. In the Unknown class you must create an oversoul where the Unknown is bonded with the shaman and is the only spirit. Otherwise you must make it so that the Shaman and the other spirits are also bonded with the Unknown. Then, depending on the Unknowns nature, you must share the spiritual energy with eachother so that the shaman can maintain the full oversoul... I could tell you more about the benefits and risks of the Unknown, but this seems like to much of a history lesson already." Nox said with a slight chuckle._

_"Risks?" Amidamaru asked in a concerned tone._

_"...Yes, an oversoul with an Unknown is always unstable. No matter how hard you try that fact will never change. Because of that, it is also dangerous. You'll never know exactly what the risks or benefits of the oversoul will be." Nox said while pacing._

_"If that's true, then let's start trying to complete our oversoul." Yoh said with a carefree smile._

_"What?" Amidamaru exclaimed._

_"Well, if an oversoul with an Unknown is always unstable then regardless of what oversoul we use, it's always going to have risks. So we might as well try to complete the one we have." Yoh said as he stood up._

_Nox stopped pacing and looked over to Amidamaru who returned the look in understanding. "Ok then, lets get started!"_

_The three of them worked for hours on completing the oversoul without much luck. It was only an hour until dinner so they would have to go back soon. Nox suggested that he change his oversoul from mist to something else. Everyone agreed and they tried one last time to form the oversoul and this time, it worked. The oversoul had Amidamaru as the scythe which looked somewhat cursed. The scythe also had strange glowing letters on the black part which was just before the blade of the scythe. The scythe had what seemed like small black wings as well with a silver blade lining along the edges of the wings which were halfway down the staff. The last part of the scythe was the crescent shaped blade on the opposite side of the scythes true blade. Yoh found it strange that he was now in a black cloak and when he saw his reflection in the lake it startled him that his hair was black and his eyes were now a crimson red. 'So is this the complete form of the oversoul?' Yoh thought while noticing hes had small fangs now too. 'I think so master Yoh, but what is Nox's medium? Do you know?' Amidamaru asked telepathically. 'Well, it appears as though like your medium is the scythe and mine is Yoh. Which explains the red eyes and black hair...' Nox trailed off. 'What? How does that complete the oversoul?' Yoh asked. 'Well, try looking at that butterfly about a mile south from here.' Nox said, and although Yoh couldn't see Nox he was sure that Nox was smiling right now. 'That's too far to- Wow!' Yoh thought as he watched the butterfy. Not only could Yoh see it but he could control whether he saw it normally or in slow motion. 'It seems as though you have my heightened senses now.' Nox purred. 'Lets try one last thing before we go back, ok?' Nox asked. 'Um ok.' Amidamaru thought. 'Fine with me.' Yoh replied. 'Ok then, can you talk Yoh?' Nox asked._

_"...No, but I can speak aloud telepathically." Yoh thought._

_After Yoh's reply they undid the oversoul and then looked at one another._

_"What should we call the oversoul?" Amidamaru asked curiously._

_"I know, why don't we call it one of Nox's names?" Yoh asked with a smile._

_"Fine with me, but which one?" Nox replied in a surprised tone._

_"Messor Umbra, The Shadow of the Reaper."_

(**End Flashback**)

"Yoh, It's time for your evaluation, come on." Mikihisa said as he started the timer.

Yoh, Amidamaru and Nox formed the simple scythe oversoul which looked a bit complicated to everyone else. Yoh was better at dodging attacks than Joco, Horohoro and Ren. Yoh wasn't as strong or quick as Ren and Joco were though. The clock was still ticking and Yoh still had yet to land a hit on Mikihisa. Suddenly Yoh got an idea and when Mikihisa dodged his next attack he turned the scythe so that the blade of the scythe's wing just barely cut Mikihisa's arm. Shortly after that the timer went off, signaling the end of the evaluation. Yoh was the last one being evaluated so now it was time for all of them to hear their results. Mikihisa sat down in front of them and quickly bandaged the cut before he spoke.

"Team the Ren is first. Ren, your impatient and have power, speed and stamina but you lack patience and defense, you need to learn to study your opponent and block at the time they attack. Joco, your not that funny but you have speed, agility and accuracy but you lack strength and stamina we will have to improve those in your training. Horohoro, your hot headed and have a good defense, strength and stamina but you lack speed and timing. Faust, your calm and have skill, healing and defense but you are low on strength and stamina. Ryu, your tough and you have talent but you need to improve your other attributes. Yoh, your nimble and you have accuracy, strength and dexterity but you need to work on your stamina. So training begins-" Mikihisa began before they were interrupted by the sound of team The Ren's oracle bell ringing.

"Who are you fighting against and when?" Yoh asked curiously.

"...Uh...Well... Team Hoshi-gumi...tomorrow..." Ren said as he looked at his team mates.

"What? You're fighting against Hao's Team tomorrow!" Everyone exclaimed.

XxX

"So I'm fighting with Ren's team? Hm, This should be interesting." Hao said with a smirk as he teleported back to camp.

XxX

Me: Fufufu.

Ren:...

Me: *Smiles* Please review^^


	21. The Ren VS Hoshigumi

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically"

Oh and just so you know, it's been about three weeks sense the last chapter.** Now on with the story:)**

XxX

"Ren, You guys can't fight against Hao yet, you wont stand a chance." Jun said, worriedly.

"Well were not going to back out of the tournament ether." Horhoro replied.

"True, we have to try." Ren agreed.

"I asked to be a part of this team and I'll stand by my team mates decisions." Joco said, trying to sound determined.

"But guys, Not a single one of the opponents that Hao has ever faced has even _survived_." Yoh said worriedly.

"Hey, maybe we'll be the first." Horohoro said optimistically.

"I don't think we can change their minds so I will train them for tomorrow. Faust, Ryu, I'd like you two to stay here to be sparring partners for team The Ren. The rest of you should head back, your presence may only distract them from their training." Mikihisa said sternly.

Jun was about to object when she thought better of it. Then Jun, Anna, Tamao Manta and Yoh left team Ren to their training. Everyone was silent on the way back home and Anna didn't object when went straight to bed the minute that they got back home. Nox gave an understanding look and Yoh smiled at him just before falling asleep.

"_What was that about?_" Amidamaru whispered.

"_Yoh is going to Hao's dream to talk to him, and he wants to go alone._" Nox replied before going to sleep in his own dreams.

xXx

Yoh opened his eyes to find himself in the dream world again, he closed his eyes and began to search for Hao's dream once again. Yoh found Hao's dream much quicker than last time and this time he almost ran into the door. Yoh paused for a moment before he opened the door and entered Hao's dream.

"I've been expecting you, Otouto." Hao said, closing the door behind Yoh.

"I want to ask you to please not kill anyone from team Ren." Yoh asked.

"...Ren and his friends do have talent, I'll admit that, but that's not really a reason to let them live in a fight against me." Hao said as he walked over to Yoh.

"What can I do to make you change your mind? I can't join you, but there must be something else that I can do." Yoh pleaded.

Hao paused for a moment as if pondering the answer, then he smirked and looked back to Yoh. "Ok, I'll spare your friends, _If_ you agree to come see me after the fight, alone."

"Alright, it's a deal." Yoh replied.

"I'll see you by the lake a little while after the fight then. Oh, and one more thing." Hao said as the dream began to fade.

"What?" Yoh asked, a little confused.

Hao grabbed Yoh's wrist and pulled him into a short but passionate kiss. "I'm looking forward to it." Hao said, then the dream faded completely.

Yoh was surprised when he looked around and realized that he was in the dark dream-world again. Normally after a dream that he's inside of fades, he wakes up. Yoh walked around aimlessly for a few minutes when he ran into Nox and Amidamaru.

"Well, how did things go with Hao?" Nox asked, slightly concerned.

"He said that he wouldn't kill team Ren if I agreed to meet him alone after the fight, and I agreed." Yoh explained.

"I see. I am curious however, where are we?" Amidamaru asked as he looked at the thorn walls.

"We are in the obscura somnio mundo, the dark dream world. When I went to sleep I called you with me to the dream world and that is why you are here. " Nox informed.

"Why are we _here _though?" Yoh asked curiously.

"So that we can try to find Len and get some answers. Can you show me where you saw him?" Nox asked.

"I think so, follow me." Yoh said as he began walking.

Amidamaru and Nox followed Yoh for what seemed like hours, after a while they noticed that they were out of the maze. They continued walking for another ten minutes when Yoh came to an abrupt stop. Nox looked up at Yoh questioningly before noticing why he stopped. Standing about fifteen feet away from them was someone who looked a lot like Ren.

"Hi, you must be Cheshire Len, right?" Nox asked the mysterious figure.

"That's right, and I'm guessing that you're Nox?" Len replied.

"Correct. Will you be willing to answer my questions?" Nox asked calmly.

"Yes, but not yet." Len said with a smile as he began to disappear.

"When?" Amidamaru asked.

"After your next fight..." Len laughed. "That is, if you live through it." Len said before he completely disappeared.

XxX

Yoh woke up and was surprised to find normal sized Nox and fast asleep on him. Nox was laying sideways so that his back legs and tails were on Yoh's stomach. Nox's back and side were laying on Yoh's right arm and shoulder while his front paws were laying on Yoh's neck. Nox's head rested on Yoh's forehead which would have made a made a very funny picture. Amidamaru was trying as hard as he could not to laugh while Yoh was trying (and failing miserably I might ad) to get up.

"Nox, sense you're a spirit, why are you so heavy?" Yoh mumbled, while successfully waking Nox up.

"Oh, I'm normal size..." Nox said groggily as he changed back to chibi form a mere seconds before Anna walked in.

"Yoh, team Ren's fight is in 20 minutes. We're eating after the match. Get ready to go." Anna said before walking out the door.

Yoh removed Chibi Nox from his head and got ready to go. Once Yoh was ready he picked up Nox and walked out the door with Amidamaru following closely behind. Everyone was waiting outside and once Yoh came out they left for the Patch stadium. When they arrived they all took took seats near Mikihisa, Anna was on the seat on the left and Yoh was on the seat on the right.

"Mr. Asakura, do you think that Ren stands a chance?" Jun asked, worriedly.

"Only if Hao is feeling merciful today for a change." Mikihisa answered honestly but sadly.

"Um, Yoh, Do you think that they'll survive?" Manta asked looking down at team The Ren.

"I think so. Everything will work out, ya know?" Yoh replied as he noticed the patch official enter the stadium.

"I hope you're right." Jun muttered.

"WELCOME EVERYONE! Today's Fight Is Team Hoshi VS Team The Ren!... This is bound to be interesting!" The patch official yelled.

Hao looked at his two followers who nodded before walking off of the platform.

"What gives?" Ren asked in his usual annoyed tone.

"Just to make things really interesting, I'll fight you all alone." Hao said with a smirk.

"LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!" The patch official yelled.

Joco was the first one to attack with Horohoro running right behind him. Horohoro jumped up high and sent a rain of icicles down towards Hao. The Spirit of Fire only used one of it's hands to melt the icicles like simple snowflakes. With the other hand the Spirit of Fire swatted Horohoro down, sending him back to the ground and also breaking his oversoul on contact. Joco attacked from behind in an attempt to catch Hao off guard. Hao merely smirked as he sent a heat wave crashing into Joco, sending him flying into the wall and knocking him unconscious. Ren went for an attempted surprise attack by appearing behind Hao when he sent the heat wave towards Joco. For a moment the attack looked like it might actually hit, but then..."How small." Hao said, turning his attention towards Ren. The Spirit of Fire destroyed Ren's oversoul in an instant and a moment later Ren was thrown back and causing him to hit the other wall. Ren looked up at Hao and glared moments before he passed out. The Patch Offical only stared in shock for a few moments with the rest of the crowd. Usually Hao burned the corpses after the end of the fight, it was surprising that he didn't this time. The official quickly shook of his surprise though and announced that the winners of the fight was Team Hoshi. The crowd cheered when they herd the official announce the winners of the fight. Soon after Hao left, the stadium cleared out and Jun, Faust, and Mikihsa were the first ones to make it to Ren's team.

"Ren! Ren, Are you alive?" Jun asked worriedly.

"... They're alive, they're slightly burned badly injured, but nothing is too severe and they'll survive." Faust said after a few minutes of examining.

"We better get them back to the house quickly. I'll carry Ren, Ryu can carry Joco and Faust can carry Horohoro." Mikihisa said as he quickly picked up Ren.

Faust and Ryu carried Joco and Horohoro and everyone quickly ran back to the house. Once they got back they laid Joco, Horohoro and Ren down in their room and Faust began treating them. After Faust was done he announced that Ren's team would probably wake up tomorrow. Everyone decided to wander around on their own until tomorrow, Anna went shopping with Tamao and Manta. Jun went to get something to eat with Ryu, Tokegero an Lee Bailong. Faust, Elisa and Mikihisa stayed at the house in case Ren's team woke up early. Yoh, Nox and Amidamaru split up at the forest where Amidamaru and Nox decided to see if they could find a graveyard somewhere in the forest. WhileYoh walked over to the lake where Hao was waiting.

XxX

Me: Another chapter finished and the story's almost over.

Mikihisa: What? How many more chapters?

Me: I'm still trying to decide, 12 at most and 3 at least. So anywhere from 4-12 I guess.

Mikihisa: TT A TT I wasn't even in this story for very long and I never had any major parts.

Me: Fufufu, don't forget that there are still 4-12 more chapters left... Very little to a heck of a lot can change in that time.

Mikihisa: ?

Me: Please review^^


	22. My Theory

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically"

**On with the story:)**

xXx

Yoh continued walking through the forest for a little while longer until he eventually reached the lake where Hao was waiting. Hao had left the Spirit of Fire with his followers so that he and Yoh would be the only ones there. Yoh slowly walked over to where Hao was sitting, once he got there he took a seat next to Hao and looked up at the clouds.

"Thank you for sparing Ren's team." Yoh said with a smile.

"I said I would if you agreed to come here after the fight, which you did. The entire stadium was wondering why I didn't burn The Ren's corpses. It's going to be interesting tomorrow when everyone finds out that Ren's team is alive." Hao replied in an amused tone.

"I actually didn't think of that. I was wondering though, why did you fight Ren's team alone?" Yoh asked curiously.

"If Opacho and Luchist had joined the fight, team The Ren might not have survived." Hao answered simply.

"Oh... Hey Hao, why did you want me to come here?" Yoh asked nervously.

"Judging by the way you asked, I'm guessing that you already know." Hao replied as he put one of his hands on Yoh's chest before pushing him onto the grass.

Yoh didn't have time to react because it seemed like the moment he hit the ground he had become lip locked with his older twin. The kiss was short and chaste, Hao broke the kiss after a moment so he could move over slightly so that he was once again straddling his younger twin. Hao thought it would be interesting to see what Yoh would do if his wrists weren't pinned down this time. Hao put one of his hands next to Yoh's head while slipping his other hand under Yoh's shirt and to Hao's surprise, Yoh didn't push him away. Hao licked Yoh's lip, begging for entrance which to his surprise, Yoh gave. Yoh hesitated a moment before he opened his mouth and allowed Hao's tongue to explore the caves within. Hao was enjoying the fact that Yoh wasn't struggling as much as last time. The kiss lasted about two and a half minutes before they broke apart for air. Hao smirked down at his blushing Otouto, Yoh looked up at Hao and for a moment their eyes met. Then Yoh smiled and flipped the two of them over so that Yoh was on top. Hao looked up at Yoh in surprise, of all the things he was expecting, this wasn't one of them.

"Why do you get to be seme?" Yoh asked with a small pout.

"What?" Hao asked in shock.

"I want to be the seme." Yoh replied before connecting his lips to his older twins.

While Hao was still trying to grasp what was happening he subconsciously opened his mouth, allowing Yoh entrance. Yoh began mapping out the caverns of Hao's mouth with his tongue before Hao finally understood what was going on. Soon a battle for dominance ensued, which Hao quickly won. Once the two of them broke the kiss Hao pushed Yoh backwards and crawled over so that he was once again the one on top.

"Yoh, _I_ am the seme." Hao said with a smirk.

Hao pinned Yoh's hands above his head so that he couldn't flip them over again. Then Hao moved over to Yoh's neck and bit down playfully on the skin. Yoh gasped and tried his hardest not to moan as Hao sucked on the delicate skin. Hao noticed Yoh's attempted restraint and began to wonder what it would take to get Yoh to to cry out. Hao lifted Yoh's shirt and kissed Yoh's waist. Yoh tensed slightly at the contact to his waist but didn't say a word. Yoh was beginning to relax when he suddenly felt Hao give a playful bite just above the navel.

"H-Hao!" Yoh exclaimed, quickly crawling out from underneath Hao.

Hao was a little confused by Yoh's sudden change of attitude when the reason slowly came to him. "So I'm guessing _that's_ your soft spot?" Hao asked in an amused tone.

Yoh blushed and nodded in response while Hao gave a small chuckle. "I was beginning to where that was."

"Well, now you know." Yoh said, finally starting to go back to his usual skin color.

"Well I guess that's enough for now anyway. Is there anything that you want to talk about?" Hao asked.

"A little." Yoh replied.

Then the two of them happily began talking about several different subjects for the next few hours.

XxX

Nox and Amidamaru were heading home from the village, after Nox and Amidamaru had been walking silently in the for a while Amidamaru tried to start a conversation.

"Hey Nox, is being with Yoh your first time being someones guardian spirit?" Amidamaru asked.

"Yes." Nox answered.

"Have you ever seen the shaman fight before?" Amidamaru asked.

"Yes." Nox answered.

"What? How old are you?" Amidamaru asked.

"Normally I would explain how many years, decades, centuries and millennium it takes to make up my age. Then I would start talking about the different eons, eras and ages that I've been in but I'm not in the mood right now so I'll just tell you in years which is 975,615 years old." Nox replied.

"Wow, that is certainly a long time. You seem a bit on edge though. Is something wrong?" Amidamaru asked.

"No." Nox answered.

"Is the fact that I'm asking a lot of questions what's irritating you?" Amidamaru asked.

"No" Nox answered.

"Would you like me to stop?" Amidamaru asked.

"I don't care." Nox answered.

"What is troubling you?" Amidamaru asked.

"What Len said." Nox answered.

"Is that all you're going to say n the subject?" Amidamaru asked.

"Yes." Nox answered.

Amidamaru decided that it would probably be best if he didn't probe further. The rest of the walk back to the house was silent. Once they got back to the house Amidamaru went over to Faust and Mikihisa to check on team Ren's progress.

"How are they doing? Have any of them woken up yet?" Amidamaru asked.

"I'm afraid not. They also appear to be having nightmares as well." Mikihisa answered sadly.

"After a fight like that some emotional trauma is to be expected." Faust replied.

"I wish we could wake them up sooner than tomorrow... It looks like it hurts." Amidamaru said worriedly.

Everyone looked down at Ren, Joco and Horohoro, who were all tossing, turning ans whimpering in their sleep.

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't listening that well before. Did you say nightmares?" Nox asked curiously.

"Yes, it looks like it hurts but I don't know what we can do..." Jun said.

"...If it's the nightmares, then I might be able to help." Nox said, attempting to fly over to where everyone was.

"How?" Jun asked.

"It's the type of spirit that I am. I have the ability to give or break dreams and nightmares. All I have to do is fall asleep." Nox explained.

"I see, then would you help?" Jun asked.

"Sure, I'm going up to Yoh's room to sleep though, it's colder up there. Good night." Nox said as he headed up stairs.

About ten minutes after Nox left Ren's team began dreaming normally and everyone went back to what they were doing before.

xXx

The first thing Nox did when arriving in the dream world was get rid of Ren's teams nightmares, an easy task which took hardly took any time at all. After that was done Nox walked around in the dark dream world for about an hour until he finally reached the place he was looking for. Soon Nox began looking around, trying to find Len was proving harder than he thought it would. With all the time that Nox spent searching he forgot to look where he was going and eventually he ended up running into Len on accident.

"Hello Len." Nox said with a slight nod.

"You're back, Why?" Len asked curiously.

"I Have a few questions." Nox answered while staring at Len.

"I told you that I would answer your questions after your next fight. Len replied with a shrug.

"...Ok then, how about I tell you my theory and you can chose whether or not to change your mind when I'm done." Nox proposed.

"Alright, what's your theory?" Len asked.

"I think that the X-Laws are somehow destroying the dream world and you need Yoh, Hao and I to save it by defeating them. Because of Hao's mind reading ability his sanity is beginning to fade and Yoh is about the only thing that can keep him sane for now. Once whatever is going to happen is over both Yoh and Hao will need to be separated from anyone with negative thoughts towards ether of them so that Hao can recover his lost sanity. Finally, the X-Laws are intending on destroying Hao, Yoh, Amidamaru, Spirit of Fire and I because they believe that all of us have sided with evil... That's my theory." Nox explained.

"Heh, I don't give you enough credit Nox, you're smarter than you look. If you've figured out that much, then what else do you want to know?" Len asked with a small laugh.

"I know that my little theory isn't the full story. What am I missing?" Nox asked.

"... I'll tell you that after your next fight, but I'll tell you something else for now." Len said as he was slowly beginning to fade.

"The X-Laws wont be your only problem. Make friends that you can trust, while you can. You'll need them." Len said as he disappeared completely.

"I see what Yoh meant and I agree." Nox said to himself while staring at the spot where Len had vanished.

"I hate it when Len does that." Nox said with a sigh before leaving the dark dream world.

XxX

**Me: **I just remembered that I forgot to explain the differences between normal Nox and chibi Nox. Chibi Nox is smaller than normal Nox and he wears a blue collar with a black slightly broken heart charm which his name is engraved on. Chibi Nox's wings are also small and chibi which makes it difficult for him to fly. The other differences are that Chibi Nox is a lighter color and he only has one tail while while Normal sized Nox has three.

**Chibi Nox:** Is that all?

**Me:** All most. I kinda had some trouble uploading this chapter so it took a little bit longer than expected. Sorry about that.

**Chibi Nox: **?

**Me: **Please review^^


	23. What the hell?

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

'''_With italics means thoughts that others can't read_'''

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically"

**On with the story:)**

XxX

Yoh noticed that it was starting to get late so he said goodbye to Hao and started walking back home. As Yoh was walking back he ran into Nox, who seemed to be in quite a hurry.

"Hey Nox, Where are you going?" Yoh asked curiously.

"I'm going to see someone. I will probably be gone all night and back around noon tomorrow, is that ok?" Nox asked while trying to suppress the urge to wag his tail.

"Sure, be safe while your gone though." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"Thanks Yoh, see you later." Nox called while running off to who-knows-where.

Yoh smiled as he watched Nox leave, once Nox was gone he remembered how late it was getting and began running back home again. After Yoh walked inside the house he was greeted by a highly annoyed Anna. Anna gave Yoh a stern lecture about coming home earlier before walking to the living room to watch her soap operas. Yoh went upstairs to team Ren's room to see how they were doing. Faust told Yoh that everyone was doing fine and that they would probably wake up tomorrow morning. Yoh thanked Faust and then went to his room where Amidamaru was. Yoh was going to go to straight bed, seeing as how there wasn't much else to do, but Amidamaru asked him to wait.

"What is it Amidamaru?" Yoh asked with a yawn.

"Well, Nox asked me to talk to you about something while he is gone, master Yoh." Amidamaru replied.

"What would that be?" Yoh asked curiously.

"Nox suggested that we tell Faust, Ren's team and Ryu about... his normal form and abilities, and about your and Hao's feelings towards eachother." Amidamaru explained.

"And _Nox_ suggested this? He's always been overcautiousabout _everyone_, I wonder why he would be the first to suggest this." Yoh said, rather surprised.

"I'm not sure. I was as surprised as you when Nox told me." Amidamaru said in disbelief.

"I have actually been thinking about telling them for awhile now but I wasn't sure if Nox would agree yet so I've been waiting." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"When are we going to tell them then?" Amidamaru asked curiously.

"Hm, after Nox gets back tomorrow. Nox said he would be back around noon." Yoh answered.

"Ok then, good night master Yoh." Amidamaru replied.

"Good night." Yoh said, shortly before falling asleep.

xXx

"Caw, caw." Nox stared blankly at the crows for a moment before he began wandering hopelessly through the lost graveyard. "Caw, caw." Nox looked around, searching for the one who he came to see, but there was no one in sight. "Caw caw." Nox felt something come up from behind him, he quickly turned around to see what it was, but all that was there was his own shadow. "Caw, caw." Nox heard something call his name, he frantically looked around in search for the noise, but all that was there was his shadow. "Caw, caw." Something brushed against Nox's fur, once again he looked around in search of the disturbance, but his shadow was the only thing there. "Caw, caw." Wait, his shadow? "Caw, caw." Nox finally understood what gave him that feeling of foreboding. It was always dark and cloudy in the lost graveyard. "Caw, caw." While Nox was in the graveyard, he didn't have a shadow.

"Desine latebras et venit in de." Nox said to the shadow. ("_Stop hiding and come out._")

"Nox? Tua visitatione improviso." The creature who appeared replied. (_"Nox__? Your visit is unexpected."_)

"Pulchra te videre tam, Infelix." Nox said with a small bow. (_"__Nice you again as well, Infelix."_)

"Rumoresque dicere quod vobis erant misit ad infernum." Infelix said questioningly. ("_Rumors say that you were sent to hell._" )

"Quod est rectam. Inferno erat calidior quam i expectatur etiam." Nox said with a smile. ("_That is right. Hell was even hotter than I expected._")

"Si vobis potest dicere quod, exin non multo mutavit." Infelix said with a husky laugh. ("_If you can say that, then not much has changed._" )

"Erras, multa mutata." Nox said with a hint of sadness in his voice. ("_You are mistaken, many things changed._")

"Quid ergo? Potes indicare mihi?" Infelix asked in a concerned tone. ("_What then? Can you tell me?_" )

Nox sighed and soon began to explain everything that had happened sense he had last saw Infelix 700,000 years ago. Infelix stayed quiet during the entire story, he growled slightly when Nox told him about exactly how he was sent to hell but stayed quiet after that. Other than that one growl, Infelix remained void of emotion through the entire story. Once Nox had finished explaining he looked up at Infelix, waiting for him to speak.

"Vero, multa acciderunt. Quare venisti tunc?" Infelix asked calmly. ("_Yes, much has happened. Why did you come then?_")

Nox looked at Infelix and gave him a determined stare. "Quid multa vestra auxilio." ("_I need your help._")

XxX

Yoh woke up early the next morning and decided to make breakfast. Yoh thought that Ryu was probably tired and if Ren's team woke up in the morning they would probably be pretty hungry. After Yoh finished his chores he started making breakfast. One time Nox had taught Yoh about how to make this one breakfast that he had learned about three thousand years ago. The meal sounded pretty goo so that was what Yoh was going to try to make for when everyone woke up this morning. After an hour of cooking the breakfast was finally done and right on time too, Yoh could hear that everyone was waking up. Yoh set the table and then went upstairs to The Ren's room to see if anyone had waken up yet, he wasn't expecting what came next. Yoh opened the door to the room to see Ren lip locked with Horohoro in a battle for dominance while Joco was still fast asleep. Yoh merely stared in shock as Ren slid one of his hands up Horohoro's shirt while Horohoro gasped in pleasure. Yoh remained silent for a few minutes and considered whether or not to tell them that breakfast was done. After the two of them broke apart Ren pushed Horohoro down and straddled his waist before going back to mapping out Horohoro's mouth with his tongue, completely unaware of Yoh's presence. Yoh decided to interrupt when Ren's hands began moving _below_ Horohoro's shirt.

"Ahem, I'm glad to see that you two are awake." Yoh said, slightly embarrassed.

"Yoh!" Horohoro and Ren exclaimed, instantly pulling themselves apart from eachother.

Ren and Horohoro merely stared at Yoh in silence and unsure of what to say. Yoh walked over to Joco and woke him up, after Joco woke up he was about to crack one of his jokes but for once he was able to sense the aura in the atmosphere and decided that now wasn't the time for a joke.

"I came in to see if you guys were awake yet and to tell you all that breakfast is done." Yoh said with a smile before leaving the room to go wake Ryu, Faust and Mikihisa. After Yoh left everyone stared silently at one another for a few minutes.

"So, what happened?" Joco asked nervously.

"Ren and I were making out and Yoh saw us." Horohoro said slowly.

"Oh. I remember when I first joined the team and how once we went home you two told me that you were together. I was shocked then but I was speechless when I saw you two make out for the first time. Yoh is our friend and I'm sure that he wont think badly of you two because he knows that you're both gay." Joco said while trying to cheer them up.

"Maybe you're right, I just hope that he doesn't Pirika, Jun or Anna, they'll freak out." Ren said quietly.

"Ok then, now that that's settled, lets go get breakfast." Joco said cheerfully.

XxX

Yoh had finished waking everyone up and now he sat at the table with Mikihisa and Amidamaru while waiting for everyone else to come down. Ren's team was the last to come down and once they were there everyone was flocking to them to see if they were alright. Yoh recommended that they save the questions for later so that they could eat and there were surprisingly no objections. Within a few minutes everyone was sitting down at the table eating breakfast quietly. Anna complemented on the food which meant that Yoh had obviously improved his cooking skills. After breakfast was done Nox came back and asked to go on a walk with _Team_ Funbari Onsen and Team The Ren. No one argued with the idea, everyone thought it would be good for Ren's team to talk with Yoh's about their feelings about the match with Hao. Soon both teams left the house and started their walk. After they were far enough away from the house and Nox couldn't sense anyone following them they decided to take a break to talk in a forest clearing.

"Everyone, there's three things that I would like to talk to you guys about." Yoh began slowly.

"Um, we can explain Yoh-" Horohoro began.

"Before you start making assumptions, Horohoro, you should know two things. The first is that I already knew about that for months, I was just surprised when I actually saw it. The second thing is that what I want to talk to you guys about has nothing to do with what I saw this morning." Yoh cut in quickly.

"Oh. Then what do you want to say?" Ren asked curiously.

"The first thing is that I am gay." Yoh said simply.

"What? You two? And I thought Ren and I were the only ones." Horohoro said with a laugh.

"None of us would think of you any differently because of that master Yoh." Ryu said with a smile.

Nox jumped on Yoh's lap while trying to say that everything would be alright, before Yoh said the second thing.

"The second thing, is that I'm in love with Hao." Yoh said hesitantly.

"..." After Yoh said that everyone went deathly silent and it was ten minutes before someone actually spoke.

"And Hao?" Faust asked slowly.

"He feels the same." Yoh said calmly.

"...Well if that's the way you feel then there's not much we can do about it. You're our friend Yoh and nothing is going to change that. I'm also guessing that that is why Hao didn't kill us in that last match, but despite knowing that I still have the very strong urge to smack Hao right now." Ren said, while managing to break the tension.

"That's right we'll always be with ya buddy." Horohoro said with a smile.

"So what's the last thing you wanted to say? That you are now planing to take over the world and need our help?" Joco joked.

"...Well, ignoring Joco, what was that last thing?" Bason asked curiously.

"Actually the last thing has to do with Nox." Yoh said, looking down at his little chibi friend.

Nox smiled up at Yoh before going back to normal form so that everyone could see. Nox laughed a little when noticing how low Horohoro's jaw was.

"Nox is big now!" Horohoro exclaimed.

"Not necessarily, this is my normal form, I was smaller before because that was my chibi form." Nox explained simply.

"Your voice changed somewhat too." Faust noted.

"I can somewhat see why you were so cautious before though, rumors say that tailed foxes are bad luck and i'm guessing that you have had some bad experiences because of that, correct?" Ren asked.

"That's true, but it's also true that tailed foxes _do_ cause bad luck." Nox said with a small chuckle.

"Hey Nox, how old are you?" Elisa asked curiously.

Nox smiled before he answered. "975,615 human years old."

"Wow, that's a lot of years." Ryu said, surprised.

Everyone was laughing happily and telling eachother about everything that had worrying them. Joco told a few bad jokes and Horohoro and Ren both tried to poke a hole through his nose. At this point in time everyone highly doubted that anything could ruin this moment. Even if the apocalypse started right then and there none of them could have cared any less. All of them were enjoying themselves with eachother in a happy moment that wasn't going to break under any circumstance. Any circumstance except-

*Beep Beep Beep* *Beep Beep Beep*

"Huh? That is our oracle bell ringing guys." Yoh said as he looked down at his oracle bell along with Faust and Ryu.

"..." Ryu stared blankly at the blinking screen.

"What the hell?" Faust said as he muttered a few curse words in German under his breath.

"Why does the great spirit seem to hate us so much?" Yoh said with a waterfall of tears starting to fall.

"Well? Who are you fighting against?" Ren asked in annoyed tone.

Ryu, Faust and Yoh all held up their oracle bells so that Ren's team could read. The color drained from their faces when they read the massage on the oracle bell.

" **A little before dawn tomorrow the fight between Team Funbari Onsen and Team X-I will take place. Be there on time or risk disqualification. That is all."**

XxX

**Me: **Fufufu, what will happen I wonder? *_smiles evilly_*

**Jeanne:** ^^;

**Yoh:** Please review.


	24. XI VS Funbari Onsen

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically."

Might be OOC.

**On with the story:)**

XxX

"What! First we have to fight Hao, now you guys have to fight the X-Laws?" Ren exclaimed.

"Looks like it." Nox said while staring at the oracle bell.

"We can't exactly change it so we may as well go back to the house to tell dad and Anna." Yoh said as he began walking.

Nox and Amidamaru stayed right beside him and everyone else stared for a moment before following as well. It didn't take very long for them to get back to the house. Once they got back Anna, Mikihisa, Jun, Tamao and Manta were all curious about why they were all back so soon. Yoh left his oracle bell on the table and then went straight up to his room. Anna looked at the oracle bell on the table and instantly understood why everyone was so depressed, she showed the message to the others so that they would know to. Once Anna showed the message to Mikihisa he began pacing worriedly. Anna sighed and glanced over at Ryu and Faust, tomorrow was going to be trouble, no doubt about that. Yoh decided to go to bed early in hopes that maybe some sleep might help him think. Nox was apparently thinking the same thing because when they entered the room, the first thing that Nox did was lay at the foot of the bed and fall asleep. Yoh picked Nox up, thankful that he went chibi before they got back, and laid down in bed before going to sleep as well.

XxX

Yoh was staring silently at the lake in the dream world and began to wonder something. Nox seemed to know what was on Yoh's mind because he suggested that they do exactly the same thing that Yoh was thinking about. Nox suggested that they that they go to Lysergs dream. Nox knew that Yoh wasn't worried about the fight as much as he was worried about how much Lyserg had changed. This fact was clearly shown by the fact that Yoh's expression changed the moment that he suggested they visit Lyserg's dream. Soon the two of them were at the door to Lysergs dream once again but Yoh was worried when he saw that the door had changed. The door used to be a simple green with a crystal dowsing pendulum on the front. Now the door had changed so that it was a light green with white metallic wings on the side, the dowsing pendulum was still there but a gun was right next to it now. Nox looked up at Yoh with the same look he gave every time that he mentioned a lucid dream. Yoh nodded in understanding and they quietly went inside the dream. Lyserg was sitting on a rock lost in thought, he called forth images of Faust, Ryu and Yoh quickly realized that Lyserg was about to call an image of him so he quickly ran over.

"It looks like I'm going to be fighting you guys tomorrow, I just want you all to know that I wont be holding back." Lyserg said determinedly.

"..." Yoh didn't say a word but merely listened as Lyserg spoke.

"Faust and Ryu, you side with Yoh while knowing that he is Hao's twin and for that you two must face judgment." Lyserg said as the images of Faust and Ryu disappeared.

"..." Once again Yoh stayed silent and listened.

"Yoh, you were a good friend while it lasted but that doesn't change the fact that we will have to fight tomorrow. If your team dies in the match tomorrow, I will only remember you as Hao's twin and those who followed him." Lyserg said coolly.

"..…What have the X-Laws been telling you?" Yoh asked slowly.

"Hao is the source of all evil and being his twin means that you are tainted too." Lyserg replied almost mechanically.

"...Do you hate me?" Yoh asked hesitantly.

"As Hao's twin you are also a part of him and I hate Hao. So, Yes, I do." Lyserg said with a determined stare.

"You said that you wouldn't trust me, but you also said, that you wouldn't hate me." Yoh said softly as he looked up at Lyserg with a hurt expression. Yoh disappeared before Lyserg was able to reply and Lyserg was left wondering what just happened in his own in his dream. '_That's only the second time that Yoh has talked to me in my dream. Every time that he does I am always left doubting myself, why? ...If Yoh is killed in the fight tomorrow, I think that his expression will haunt me forever. Why do I feel like this in a dream though? I feel like I just had that conversation with the real Yoh, but that was just a mental image, right?_' Lyserg thought to himself.

"Sometimes dreams have deeper meanings than what we expect, try to keep that in mind so that you can search for that meaning." A Voice echoed through the dream as it faded away and Lyserg awoke.

XxX

"Yoh, you slept in again. It's only twenty minutes until the fight, you should get ready." Anna said briskly as she walked out the door.

Yoh got up and got ready to go, he decided that he would try to put Lyserg's dream out of mind. Lyserg's answer had concerned him but he couldn't really do much about it so he would just wait and let every thing work out. After Yoh had finished getting ready he went downstairs where his friends were waiting. The three of them discussed different strategies as they walked over to the Patch stadium. They finally decided that sense Ryu was the strongest, Yoh was the fastest and Faust had the greatest defense, they would use a special strategy. Yoh would be best for distractions while Ryu would attack and Faust would block attacks and heal everyone when they got injured. Once they arrived at the stadium they quickly took notice that they weren't the only ones there. Team X-I had arrived shortly before Yoh's team and were staring at them silently as they entered. Within a few moments the Patch official entered and began going on his rant.

"WELCOME EVERYONE, once again, to the shaman fights! Today's match is Team Funbari Onsen V.S. Team X-I! It is almost guaranteed that no one will leave this mach today _unscathed_... LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!" The patch official declared.

Everyone unleashed their oversouls at once and Marco was the first one to attack. Marco sent Arch Angel Michel to attack Yoh who jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the attack. Ryu tried to attack the iron maiden while Marco was occupied with fighting Yoh. Lyserg sent out his Arch Angel Zelel to stop the attack, however, and counter the attack with another one of his own. Faust caught Ryu as he was sent flying and quickly tended to his injuries. Yoh used Shadow slash against Marco, the attack hit but unfortunately it didn't do much damage. Lyserg quickly tried to go to Marco's aid but Ryu had finished healing and went to fight against Lyserg. Marco sent an attack towards Faust in hopes of stopping their healing capabilities. Faust dodged the attack by flying up and Yoh slashed at Marco while he was distracted. Marco's right arm received a deep cut by the attack and Lyserg once again sent Ryu flying and then went over to help Marco.

Just as Lyserg was about to go help the Iron Maiden Jeanne left her iron maiden and joined the fight. Ryu didn't have time to recover as Shamash sent an ax down headed straight for Ryu's head. Yoh tried to push Marco back so that he could go help Ryu, but Marco wouldn't cease his relentless attack against him for a moment. Faust saved Ryu from the attack just in time but soon Jeanne had trapped them both in the chairs of torture. Everyone in the stadium knew what this meant, it meant that their lives were about to end. Yoh's eyes widened in horror as Shamash's right hand turned into an ax while he used his other hand to lift Faust an Ryu. '_Oh no, Jeanne is going to kill them! I cant let that happen!_' Yoh thought as Shamash pulled his ax back . '_Nox, Amidamaru, ready?_' Yoh asked quickly. '_Ready!_' Amidamaru and Nox replied. Shamash swung the ax down on Faust and Ryu and time seemed to slow, but that only lasted a moment. * _Crash* _A cloud of dust surrounded the stadium, blocking everything from view. Everyone waited silently and anxiously as the dust began to clear, pretty soon they could see the stadium once more. Everyone was shocked to see that Shamash's ax had shattered and that Yoh stood over his friends with midnight black hair and blood red eyes. Yoh wore a cloak with the same coloring as his hair and the scythe had changed slightly so that it now had strange glowing letters on it.

"This is the oversoul Messor Umbra, The shadow of the reaper." Yoh thought as he looked up at Jeanne.

Faust and Ryu were speechless at the sight of Yoh's oversoul, as the name suggested, it really did look like the shadow of the reaper. Marco was the first one to snap out of his daze and quickly attacked Yoh by calling out the blade of sanction. Yoh looked over at Marco for and then for an instant he seemed to disappear, however it was quickly understood that Yoh didn't really disappear, Yoh now ran at a speed that was difficult to keep up with with your eyes. Yoh reappeared behind Marco and slashed sideways with his scythe, Yoh put enough strength in the attack to knock Marco out but not kill him. Lyserg tried to attack next but wasn't even able to come close enough to scratch him, Yoh used the staff of the scythe to quickly knock out Lyserg. Jeanne glared at Yoh and used Shamash's judgment in a final attempt to execute Yoh. Yoh didn't dodge the attack like everyone expected though, instead Yoh used an attack called _falcatis caeditur_ to cut Jeanne's oversoul in half and knock out Jeanne in the process.

"...And the winner is... TEAM FUNBARI ONSEN!" The Patch official yelled.

Everyone stared in shock for a moment at the fact that team X-I had actually been defeated, then the entire stadium went into an uproar of cheers. Yoh looked over at Faust and Ryu, who had finished recovering, before leafing the stadium in an instant. As the crowed was clearing Ryu and Faust were able to speak for a moment before their friende would come over.

"Yoh looked like he was hurt somehow when he left, do you think you could...?" Faust asked.

"Sure. I can entertain them while you go help Yoh." Ryu said with a thumbs up.

Faust nodded before leaving the stadium to go find Yoh.

XxX

**Me:** Ok then not really sure what to say in this authors note...

**Nox:** Boring Author.

**Me:** Watch it, or else I'll turn you into a human female.

**Nox:** I'm a shapeshifter, I can already do that.* _turns into human girl_*

**Me:** ...O.O;

**Female Human Nox:** Please review.


	25. Risks

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically."

Just so you know Nox isn't chibi at all this chapter.

**On with the story:)**

XxX

Yoh wandered through the forest for a while, trying to get as far away from the stadium as he could for the moment. Yoh had been running at his unusual speed for about five minutes before her stopped in a hidden clearing. Yoh looked around and listened for any sign of others and after a moment he noted that no one was around for two miles. '_Yoh, is something wrong?_' Amidamaru asked worriedly. Yoh didn't respond but instead he walked over to a nearby tree and undid the oversoul. Amidamaru turned around and was about to ask why Yoh waited so long to do the oversoul when Yoh suddenly collapsed.

"Master Yoh!" Amidamaru exclaimed as he rushed over to Yoh's side.

"Nox, do you know what's wrong with master Yoh?" Amidamaru asked as he turned to look at Nox, who was on the other side of Yoh, but Amaidamaru was shocked to see his current state. Nox was staggering and he looked very ill, he was breathing heavily and it looked like it was taking all of his energy just to stay conscious.

"...Y-yea... Remember... how I-I said that... the oversoul was un-unstable?" Nox asked through ragged breathes.

"Yes." Amidamaru replied worriedly.

"Well... t-this is... one of the c-causes of that..." Nox replied, his tone becoming more uneven by the moment.

"How? And What can I do to help?" Amidamaru asked quickly.

"C-can't stay conscious... for both answers... so I'll tell you... the i-important one now... and the other... later." Nox gasped.

"What then?" Amidamaru asked frantically.

"...Go get... Hao and Faust... no one else... they're the o-only ones... that can...h-help..." Nox said as he passed out and fell next to Yoh.

"Nox!" Amidamaru exclaimed.

Amidamaru quickly looked around before flying off to go find Hao and Faust. After searching for ten minutes he found Hao, luckily for Amidamaru he was alone. Amidamaru quickly explained that Yoh and Nox had collapsed and that both he and Faust were needed to help them. Hao nodded in understanding before teleporting to where Faust was. Faust already knew something was wrong and didn't need an explanation, all faust did was say 'take me to them'. Amidamaru quickly described where in the forest Yoh and Nox had collapsed and Hao teleported there instantly. Once they got there Faust and Hao instantly got to work on searching for the problem.

XxX

"...Where are we?" Yoh asked as he looked around the odd space.

"... We are in the space between the living world and the spirit world." Nox answered hesitantly as he looked around. The two of them were standing at the edge of an eerie beach with white sand and a glowing whitish red ocean which seemed to go on forever. Behind the two of them was a misty forest filled with many different trees but all of which seemed to carry a strange feeling to them that one cannot easily describe. The air in this place was thin and had a strange aromatic scent in the air which seemed to put ones mind at ease. Sounds in this place consisted of faint wolf howls and owl calls. The grass beneath their feet was soft and strangely cool and the temperature in this place was somewhat relaxing.

"How did we get here?" Yoh asked curiously.

"The instability of the oversoul slightly damaged your spirit and wounded mine, thus sending us both here." Nox replied simply.

"Do you know one of the reasons that caused the instability?" Yoh asked, taking a seat on the grass.

"Yes, while I was telling you about the risks before I forgot about something crucial." Nox said sadly.

"What would that be?" Yoh asked, concerned.

"Well, you were raised in a family of shaman so I'm guessing that you already know about furyoku and reiryoku. Well, when a spirit has a higher reiryoku it means that it has a stronger oversoul and as expected it requires a furyoku that close to the spirit's reiryoku level. If the shaman's furyoku is not close to or above the spirit's reiryoku then the oversoul can not be maintained for long if at all. Your furyoku level is currently 57,450 while my reiryoku level is 700,000... in the words, it's amazing that we could pull off the oversoul at all." Nox explained.

"Oh, is there anyone in the tournament that can teach us how to stabilize the oversoul?" Yoh asked calmly.

"...There is one person in the tournament who has a spirit which has the same amount of reiryoku as me. They might be able to help." Nox said thoughtfully.

"Who is it?" Yoh asked, noticing that they were now fading.

"Her name is Lady Sati and she is the leader of team Nyorai." Nox said, before they were sent back to the living world.

XxX

"Yoh, Nox, Are you two alright?" Faust, Amidamaru and Hao asked simultaneously.

"Yea, somehow." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"We're still sore but we're not going to cross over for something like that." Nox said as he slowly got up.

"That is reassuring. Why did you two collapse though?" Amidamaru asked.

"Like I said before the oversoul was unstable. That was only our second time using that oversoul and when we did we were in a state of panic while trying to prevent Ryu and Faust from being killed. If we had taken a moment to adjust before attacking then the damage done to us wouldn't have been as severe. The main problem currently lies within the compatibility with both Yoh's and my spirit, that is why Amidamaru wasn't affected by this also." Nox explained.

"Is the problem permanent?" Hao asked curiously.

"Not really, Yoh and I just need to work on our strength and compatibility issues, after that we ad Amidamaru to the equation and then work out all the kinks. After we're done the oversoul should be stronger and without so severe risks." Nox replied with a smile.

"Is there anything that we can do to help?" Faust and Amidamaru asked.

"Um, because of training we'll probably be gone for a little while... Do you think that you can cover for us?" Yoh replied.

"Sure." Faust and Amidamaru answered.

"Thanks, we should probably get going then." Nox said as he took off.

"Thanks again Faust, Amidamaru, and Hao." Yoh said, bushing when he said Hao's name. Then Yoh and Nox left to go train. How, where and with who, no one but them knew.

XxX

Yoh continued following Nox as they ran through the woods. Nox stumbled a few times when running but ignored it and kept going. After about twenty minutes Nox finally slowed down so that both he and Yoh could catch their breath. They stopped for two minutes before they started walking. As the two of them walked Yoh noticed that the scenery was beginning to change. Before they were walking in a simple forest and now they were in a clearing where you could see many tents off in the distance. Within a few minutes the tents were clearly visible and Yoh and Nox could see other shaman now. The two of them walked through the clearing of tents while looking for Sati. Everyone around them merely watched as the two of them walked over to Sati's tent.

"Come in." Sati said from within the tent, just as they were about to knock.

"Um, are you Lady Sati?" Yoh asked as he and Nox entered the tent.

"Yes I am. I would like to talk to you alone Yoh and Dainichi would like to speak with Nox if that is alright with the two of you." Lady Sati replied as her spirit guardian Dainichi came in the tent.

"Of course." Both Yoh and Nox replied shortly before Nox left the tent to go talk with Dainichi.

"...I you don't mind me asking, why did you want to separate us?" Yoh asked curiously.

"Your partner seems to have trust issues and I didn't think that he would be fully honest with me. Dainichi is older than Nox and he might be willing to tell more to Dainichi than me." Lady Sati answered in a polite tone.

"You seem to know a lot, do you also know why we came?" Yoh asked with a carefree smile.

"I know that you require my help but I don't know why. Would you mind telling me everything that happened sense you entered the tournament? Please don't leave anything out." Lady Sati asked.

Yoh smiled and began telling Lady Sati about everything that happened sense he joined the tournament by starting at the very beginning.

XxX

Me: *Sigh*

Yoh: What's wrong?

Me: I'm thinking about another one of my stories.

Yoh: Which one and why?

Me: Wandering Soul, I already thought of the ending for the story but I cant seem to decide on the middle.

Yoh: Don't worry, everything will work out somehow. *smiles*

Me: Yea... maybe you're right.

Yoh: Please review.


	26. Recollections and Omens

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically."

**On with the story:)**

XxX

Nox walked silently through the camp with Dainichi, listening to the wind and the chatter of those around them. Dainichi didn't say a word as they walked through the camp, but he decided that he would speak once they were out of everyone else hearing range. The two of them continued walking silently out of camp, Dainichi thought that once they reached the lake he should start the conversation. After a few more minutes of walking they reached the lake where they stopped to take a break. They both stared at the water with mild interest for a little while before Dainichi finally decided to speak.

"I'm glad that you've finally made a friend again, Nox." Dainichi said softly. "How long did it take for him to earn your trust?" He added.

"When we first met he freed me from a curse and I asked to go with him as his guardian spirit. Within the first day of being with him I became attached. After that I trusted him very quickly and we soon became close friends." Nox explained.

"I see, have you told him anything about your past?" Dainichi asked curiously.

"...Yoh is the only one who I consider a friend, I don't want to lose him. I told him a little about Rima, but other than that I haven't said anything." Nox replied calmly.

"I think that Sati is done talking to Yoh now. You should be honest with her, she does not judge to harshly." Dainichi said as the two of them walked back to camp.

XxX

"Dainichi, Nox, you two can come in." Lady Sati said, just as they were about to knock.

Dainichi and Nox quietly entered the tent, Dainichi went over to Sati while Nox sat down next to Yoh. Both Yoh and Nox were waiting nervously for Sati's answer, then Sati looked up at them and smiled.

"We would be glad to train you." Lady Sati said with a sincere smile.

"That's great! Thank you very much." Yoh said happily while Nox smiled at him and Sati.

"You will have to understand three things first before we begin training though. Are you listening?" Lady Sati asked calmly.

"We're listening." Yoh and Nox replied.

"The first thing is that in order to strengthen your bond, Nox will have to show how you two met from his point of view. The second thing is that you will need to strengthen Nox's and Amidamaru's trust with eachother. The third thing is that the only way to gain more furyoku is to have a death or near death experience, so Yoh must train in hell." Lady Sati explained.

"Um, ok, But how am I going to be able to see the day we met from Nox's point of view?" Yoh asked, a little nervous after hearing that he would be training in hell later.

"It's actually not that hard. All you have to do is daydream and I'll take it from there." Nox said looking at Yoh.

Yoh nodded and closed his eyes, then the flashback began.

(Flashback Nox's Pov)

_Sigh,_ another dream shrouded in darkness, Infelix was right when he told me to stay away from Yohken. I thought that it would be interesting to know what the fourth shaman king was like. I guess I was wrong seeing as how he put this curse on me. I can't really blame him though, he said that my existence was a threat to humanity and he wasn't exactly wrong about that. That doesn't change the fact that I'm going to tear him to shreds if I see him again though. I wonder how long this annoying curse will last. I've been trapped in this cracked stone for 500 years now and I'm positive that if it was possible to be bored to death, I would have died a long time ago. Not that I can actually die, seeing as how I'm a spirit already.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" An unfamiliar voice called.

'_That voice, a human? What is a human doing in my dream?_' I thought, becoming annoyed at the fact that I couldn't see anything.

"Where am I?" The Human asked in a hopeless tone.

'So h_e wandered in here on accident? That's surprising... I was bored anyway so I may as well reply._' I thought in mild amusement.

"You are in my dream right now." I reply simply.

"Why can't I see you?" The Human asked. I'm guessing that he was looking around when he said it. It figures that he wouldn't know.

"Probably for the same reason that I can't see you, I'm cursed." I reply, letting a hint of sadness show in my voice. It hurt a little whenever I remembered what I was indeed cursed.

"How can I find you?" The Human asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Why would you want to?" I ask, my confusion clearly showing. My life, or what ever you would call it, doesn't concern him, so why would he even ask is a mystery to me.

"Because it seems like I'm the first person you've talked to in a while and you sound pretty lonely. I'd like to be friends with you but that would be kind of hard to do if I don't know where you are." The Human replied.

'_Is he messing with me, naïve or just too kind? Ether way it's not like my situation could get any worse by telling him._' I reasoned with myself.

"I see, because of my curse I can't tell you where I am directly but I can tell you my riddle... **In a dark forest filled with hawks, there is one evanescent, demon fox. This large demon fox is not as it seems, for it can send visions in dreams. Trapped within a broken stone, the demon fox is all alone. Free the fox from it's binds and you may be able to share minds.**" I reply a mere moments before I wake up.

_Sigh,_ I'm chained to this stone statue once again. I don't even know why I told that human my riddle. When humans come near me it doesn't end well. Then again, it's not very likely that he will find this part of the forest, I doubt that he will even come... ...It's been a few hours now and there is still been no sign of any humans, not that I was expecting any... Wait, what was that?... I twitch my hears slightly while trying to locate the noise that I just herd. I could have sworn I heard the thoughts of a human. I am about to go back to lying down next to the fox statue which binds me when suddenly, I hear the rustling of the bushes behind me. It couldn't be the human from before, could it? The hawks suddenly jumped up and flew away in a state of panic. I turn to see what they were fleeing from when I saw it, a male human teen walking over to the fox statue. "_So this is where you are, now how do I get you out of here?_" I hear him think. I merely stare at him in shock as he pet's the statue's head. A moment later I watch in silence as the stone tablet appears. "_Well that's strange, I can actually read it._" He thinks as he begins reading the Latin text. After he is finished reading I expect him to leave, no sane humans would stay after hearing what it said about me. "_Ok, so I have to break the statue in order to free the fox, I better start trying._" He thought with a carefree smile. ...I have nothing against the insane, seeing as how I am somewhat insane myself, but I am starting to wonder if he is too. I watch the young human with interest as intentionally cuts his hand over one of the cracks on the statue. The young human lets his blood fall on the statue's head for a moment before he jumps up high and lands a kick on the statue, shattering it completely and thus lifting my curse. "Did it work?" The Human thinks worriedly, while searching around for me.

"Yes it did, thank you for freeing me." I say while walking up from behind him.

"I'm actually surprised that my idea worked... My name is Yoh, what's yours?" Yoh asked, after turning around to face me.

'_Yoh? The Asakura's current heir? Now I am really confused as to why he would break my curse, his ancestors were the ones that put the curse on me in the first place. Hm, now that I think about it, the Asakura's never did tell the heir much until after they became clan leader. I do not hold grudges towards a person for what there family has done and It's likely that he has never even herd of me._' I think as I look at the shaman who is known as Yoh.

"My name is Nox, are you the one that was in my dream?" I ask, vaguely aware that I am now staring.

"Yea, I'm not quite sure how I went in to your dream though, still learning about that... By the way, the stone said something about you terrorizing, killing and driving people insane, what did it mean by that and what are you?" Yoh asks in a curious tone.

"I am a Visio nocturna, also called an Tenebris somnium , in other words the dark dream or a nightmare, which ever you prefer. As for the stone, I hate humans so I enjoy tormenting them and a lot of times there would be a human that pissed me off so I would make them go insane, I usually don't kill unless it's necessary though." I explained as I walked a little closer to Yoh.

'_Nox lied when he said that he didn't usually kill unless it's necessary, but I wont judge him. Everyone has a part of themselves and their past that they want kept secret and I'm sure that Nox has his reasons._' I herd Yoh think before replied.

"What do you think of me?" He asked calmly.

'_I'm not surprised that knew I was lying, just about anyone who enjoys tormenting, making people go insane, and is found curse-bound to a statue, would enjoy killing as well. What I am surprised about is that he knows all of this and still wants to get to know about me._' I thought with a faint smile.

"...You're a very strange shaman as far as I can tell, I like you though, your pretty interesting." I replied, my happiness visible through the tone of my voice.

"Thanks, by the way what are you going to do now that your curse is broken?" Yoh asked with a carefree smile. Wow he's laid back.

"Hm... I don't really have anything to do... by the way, since your a shaman, where is your spirit partner?" I asked while looking around for said spirit. '_It's strange that the spirit isn't nearby._' I thought, noticing that there were no other spirits for miles.

"Oh, I got separated from him and my friends a while back so I've been alone for a while." Yoh answered sadly.

'_Alone?_'... "I see... would you mind if I became your spirit partner too?" I asked carefully so that I wouldn't upset him.

"Not at all, let's go Nox. We need to find a place called Pache village, I'm sure my friends will be there too." Yoh said while running off. I smiled while following closely behind as the ran out of the forest. '_Hm, Maybe Yoh is the one that I have been waiting for, maybe we can actually be... friends._'

(End of Flashback)

Yoh opened his eyes and looked down at Nox with surprise. Yoh hadn't expected their views of the same day to be so different. Nox looked up at Yoh, waiting for him to respond.

"You thought that we could be friends so quickly, I'm happy that I know that now. I'm also glad that we're friends." Yoh said with a smile.

"At this point it doesn't seem like anyone else could break your bond, now we will continue with the next part of training. Dainichi, would you go get Amidamaru please?" Lady Sati asked.

Dainichi nodded before disappearing out of the tent. Yoh and Nox looked at eachother before looking up at Sati.

"I'm guessing that by your expressions, you already know what needs to happen next, right?" Lady Sati asked slowly.

"I'm going to be sent to hell now?" Yoh replied questioningly.

"That's correct, are you ready?" Lady Sati asked, raising her staff in preparation.

"I'm ready." Yoh replied nervously.

Then, everything went black.

XxX

Faust walked back to the house alone, it had been three days since Yoh and Nox had left to train. Earlier that day a strange spirit had come over and left with Amidamaru. Faust was the only other one at the house at the time so it was no big deal. When everyone came back from whatever they were doing Faust told them that Amidamaru had gone somewhere with a friend, no one asked much more than that. Faust had gotten a little worried lately though, for three reasons. First, Kino and Yohmei had come over to check in on Mikihisa and Yoh. Second, Mikihisa was curious about Nox's dream ability so he was trying to find out more about Nox's type of spirit. Third, a bad omen and Faust normally wasn't the type to believe in omens. This mourning when he was doing the dishes the picture from across the room fell an shattered upon hitting the floor. As Faust was picking up the pieces of glass he noticed that one of the pieces of glass had torn the picture. It used to be one of the very few pictures of Yoh's family all together, but the glass had cut Yoh's picture out of it. Ren had come in the door at that moment and actually offered to help pick up the pieces. As Ren was picking up a piece of glass just above Yoh's picture, he accidentally cut his hand on the small glass shard. This caused a few drops of Ren's blood to fall on Yoh's image of the torn picture piece. Now Ren didn't believe in bad omens ether, but both of them agreed that this was not a good sign.

xXx

Me: I hope I did alright with this chapter. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, in this story the shaman tournament has been around for 2,000 years. When Yohken defeated Hao 500 years ago he became the fourth shaman king.

Ren: Review.

Me: Be polite Ren!

Ren: Or what?

Me: I'll call Jun an Joco.

Ren: And why would that scare me?

Me: *smiles evilly* Jun can put you in a dress for the day while Joco can make jokes about it for the next week.

Ren: *sweat drops* Please review.


	27. The Plot

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically."

Amidamaru OOC during the argument.

**Bold is a dangerous tone and _Bold with italics is a deadly tone._**

**On with the story:)**

xXx

Sati was beginning to grow impatient, which was very rare. Sati had tried almost everything to get Nox and Amidamaru to trust eachother more, but now it was starting to feel hopeless. Nox only trusted Amidamaru slightly and that was just because Amidamaru hadn't given him a reason not to yet. Amidamaru only wanted to gain Nox's trust for Yoh's sake, he knew that if the two of them didn't get along then it might put Yoh in danger. '_Oh great spirit, please help us._' Sati prayed silently as a fight finally broke out between the two spirits. Dainichi threw Amidamaru and Nox out of the tent and told them to take a walk, he only hoped that they would calm down by the time they returned. Dainichi only feared that one of them might go too far and say something that they shouldn't. As Nox and Amidamaru walked through the forest, they started to argue once again.

"I don't trust you and I don't see any reason to. You don't trust anyone other than Yoh and you're overcautious about everyone, even our friends." Amidamaru said irritably.

"Tch, I think that you are too trusting of others. I think that you have a good heart and I admire that about you, but you spend too much time doubting the wrong people. You still don't trust Hao when you should, he is not as bad of a person as you seem to think." Nox snapped.

"Hao is a pyromaniac and has killed many, I will not trust him easily. You should not be doubting Yoh's family, they would never hurt him, even if there was a possibility of destroying Hao." Amidamaru said angrily.

"You hesitated last time and now you're sure about it? I cant seem to be able to find myself able to trust you until you start looking at the bigger picture in all of this. I also find it hard to believe that you would be more willing to trust them than me." Nox said, a blood vein looking like it was about to burst.

"I know almost nothing about you! You were found curse-bound to a statue and you were put there for tormenting and killing others. You claim to have had friends that were killed in the past, but I think it's possible that you were the one that caused their deaths!" Amidamaru yelled.

Nox froze upon hearing what Amidamaru said, he looked down at the grass, his fur was now covering his eyes so that Amidamaru couldn't see his face. "_Non eram possent salvare ego semper paenitet. Quia non poteram tueri eos, sunt mortui sunt_**. **_Tu non intelligimus, cupient et ego quomodo multo revixit._" Nox whispered softly. Nox gave a small sigh before turning around and glaring at Amidamaru, his red eyes glowing fiercely as he gave a dangerously low growl."_**So do **__**NOT**__** try to talk about things which you do not understand, samurai! I would never hurt one of my friends and I would have protected them at the cost of my very existence if I had the chance. Yoh is my only friend and I would rather have my spirit torn apart and fed to the king of hell than let anything happen to him. I would do **__**anything**__** to protect him so don't you **__**dare**__** suggest that I would intentionally try to hurt him!**_" Nox growled as he unfolded his wings and spread them out wide. Amidamaru was quite taken aback by Nox's change in behavior, he was about to respond when Nox suddenly turned around and ran. Amidamaru tried to chase after him but Nox jumped off the ground and took flight, he was long gone by the time that Amidamaru reached the same height. '_I hope that I did not just say __something that I will regret_...' Amidamaru thought worriedly as he went back to camp.

XxX

Mikihisa was starting to become suspicious, he had looked in just about every spirit book he could find but there was still no mention of a spirit type that matched Nox's description. When Yohmei came over later that day Mikihisa told him about Nox and his suspicious nature. Yohmei agreed that it was strange that there was no mention of his spirit type and he offered to help try and find out more about him. The two of them then proceeded to search for the rest of the day, just as they were about to give up Mikihisa stumbled upon Asakura Yohken's journal. Mikihisa called Anna, Kino, and Keiko so that he could tell them what he found. Once everyone was listening Mikihisa began reading a certain chapter in the book. In all of my time as a shaman there was only one spirit other than Hao that truly made me fear for humanity's sake. I was surprised when I first met this spirit, he seemed small, nice and polite. After getting to know more about this spirit I ended up running into some legends and curse-stories about this very same spirit. I looked into these rumors and found most of them to be true. This little winged fox spirit was a shapeshifter and he was older than all of the Asakura spirits combined. What's more, this fox hated humans and I fear what would have happened if this fox had met Hao during the tournament. After I learned all of this I confronted the spirit after becoming shaman king, in the end I put a curse on him which binds his spirit to a stone statue. I only hope that no one would will be able to free this dangerous spirit. To any one who would read this I give you but one warning, beware the demonic fox spirit by the name of Nox, he is more than he seems. Yohmei looked up at Mikihisa questioningly after he had finished reading while Anna appeared to be lost in thought.

"Hm, this is worse than I thought, Nox is not our only concern. As I was walking over here I herd that Ainu boy talking, apparently Yoh is now with Hao." Kino informed.

"What, Yoh has joined Hao?" Everyone exclaimed.

"No, I said that Yoh was _with_ Hao, not that he had _joined_ Hao." Kino corrected.

"What do you mean?" Yohmei asked in confusion.

"Yoh and Hao both have feelings for eachother, and it's not the kind which you see in friends or brothers." Kino explained.

"You mean?" Keiko began.

"Incest. I have to admit, I was not expecting this. I'm pretty sure that all of us are thinking the same thing now, right?" Mikihisa said as he looked at everyone standing before him.

"If Yoh has chosen to be with that monster then there is no other choice, Yoh must be destroyed with him. We must begin working on a plan to destroy them both, come on, lets go get the X-Laws." Yohmei said as he walked out the door. Mikihisa, Keiko and Kino followed right behind him, Anna told them that she was staying back to watch her soap operas and said goodbye as she watched them leave. Tamao had gone shopping and would be gone for a while so it appeared as though Anna was alone in the house. Anna walked into the living-room and took seat on the couch, she ignored the T.V remote laying next to her and stared at the blank television screen for a moment.

"So I'm guessing that you herd everything, right?" Anna said as she looked over at the doorway where a full-sized demonic fox spirit was standing.

"You knew I was here the entire time yet you didn't say anything?" Nox asked in an amused tone.

"...I always knew that Yoh was gay, even before he realized it. I had also herd of Hao long before any of the Asakura's told me about him. After Yoh started having the dreams I began to suspect that it was more than just a simple dream. On the day that he left for Pache village I called off the engagement, but I didn't call it off for the reasons that I said. I said that I called it off because I didn't think that we were meant to be together, but I actually called it off because I knew that he was already taken, by Hao. It was obvious that you were (and still are) hiding something, but I decided that if Yoh trusts you, then so will I. The idea that Yoh is evil just because he is with Hao is idiotic, they don't seem to realize that Yoh could change Hao just as much as Hao could change Yoh. I am not on their side of this fight." Anna explained calmly.

Nox smiled warmly at Anna. "I think that I misjudged you Anna, you're nicer than I thought. I must get going now though, Yoh is training in hell right now and I still have one thing to do before I can warn him about the Asakura's plan. Bye Anna." Nox said as he ran back to the camp.

When Nox arrived he was instantly greeted by Amidamaru, who almost clashed into him on sight.

"IamsorryforwhatIsaidNox,,pleaseforgiveme." Amidamaru blurted out, all in under three seconds.

Nox blinked in surprise, and then he noticed that Amidamaru was waiting for him to respond. "Amidamaru, could you repeat that a little more slowly? I couldn't hear a word you just said."

"I am sorry for what I said Nox, I was angry and said some things which hurt you that I did not mean to say, please forgive me." Amidamaru repeated with a sad look.

"If you're truly sorry, then I will forgive you." Nox said with a sigh of defeat.

"Thank you Nox." Amidamaru said while giving Nox a spirit hug.

"Amidamaru, I need to tell you something that you are probably not going to like..." Nox said slowly.

"What is it?" Amidamaru asked with a serious expression.

"...The Asakura's know about my past and Hao and Yoh's relationship. They are going to tell the X-Laws so that they can think of a plan to destroy Hao, Yoh and I. They said that if Yoh has chosen to be with that monster then there is no other choice, Yoh must be destroyed with him." Nox said hesitantly.

"Oh Great spirit, what do we do?" Amidamaru said hopelessly.

"Well, I guess that we'll just have to finish training before they find us then, right?" Someone said as they walked up from behind the two spirits.

Amidamaru and Nox turned around and said the same thing upon seeing who it was.

"Yoh!"

XxX

Me: Another chapter done, it took a little longer than I expected.

Ren: That's probably because you got an idea for a short story, half way through the chapter.

Me: …

Horohoro: Please review.


	28. Before the training

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically."

**Bold is a dangerous tone and _Bold with italics is a deadly tone._**

**On with the story:)**

XxX

"You finished your training in hell?" Amidamaru asked curiously.

"Yup. Are you two ready to start working on the oversoul?" Yoh said with a care free smile.

"Maybe, but I don't think that you are. It will probably take the X-Laws a few days to think of a plan and for now, I think that you should rest." Nox replied, noticing how tired that Yoh looked.

"You're probably right." Yoh said in the middle of a yawn.

"Naturally." Nox replied with a teasing smile. "Now go to sleep."

Yoh let out another yawn and went inside one of the tents that Sati made for them. Amidamaru glanced at Nox before they both followed Yoh inside. Yoh was asleep within minutes and Nox curled up in a ball at the edge of the bed and quickly fell asleep as well.

XxX

Nox wandered through the dreamworld alone today since Yoh had gone into Hao's dream and Nox had a feeling that they wouldn't want to be disturbed. Nox was going straight to the dark forest to speak with Len, this would probably be the last time he would be able to talk before the fight and he needed to know some things. Nox walked through the dreamworld while making his way to the border to the dark dreamworld. He started getting a little uneasy when he noticed dark clouds over the horizon. The dreamworld was always sunny or slightly cloudy and the weather never changed, storms were always signs of a sad future. Nox chose to think more about it later and continued walking towards the forest border. Nox walked another minute when he reached the forest entrance, he was about to enter when something bit one of his tails and dragged him back. Nox turned around to growl at the intruder but was surprised when he saw who it was. His anger turned to annoyance as he addressed the 'intruder'.

"...Why are you biting my tail, Infelix?" Nox asked with a bored expression.

"I think you should check on something else." Infelix muttered while still holding Nox's tail.

"That doesn't answer my question." Nox said with an annoyed glare.

Infelix merely glanced up at him before he started dragging him somewhere else. Nox considered fighting but he merely let Infelix continue dragging him for three reasons. A, Infelix was bigger, older, and stronger than him. B, It would take longer if he tried and it still wouldn't change anything. C, They were already there. "Why are we at this door?" Nox started to ask before noticing that Infelix was already gone. '_He's almost worse then Len at doing that._' Nox thought with a sigh. Nox looked up at the green door with a dowsing pendulum and a gun hanging overhead. Nox recognized Lyserg's door but something was different this time. Last time Lysers door didn't have red hearts on it and wasn't fading. Nox slowly entered the door and was surprised at what he saw. Lyse, Len, Trey, Joco, Butterfly Faust, Flower Anna and The Red Queen Jeanne, all siting down drinking tea. Jeanne was the first to notice his presence and politely offered him a seat. Upon seeing them all together Nox began to suspect something that he hadn't thought of before. Before he could voice his question Jeanne spoke up.

"Yes." Jeanne said suddenly after taking a sip of tea.

"What?" Nox asked, staring at her in total confusion.

"The answer to your question is yes." Jeanne replied, looking around at her companions.

"Then all of you are?" Nox asked halfway.

"Yes. All of us are the persona's of the ones you know." Jeanne said with a smile.

"Why are you all here?" Nox asked, almost forgetting how to breathe. (Not that he needs to since he's a spirit.)

"To talk to you. I thought that would be obvious." Len replied with a smirk.

"Why would you?" Nox asked while thinking that he was asking to many questions and not getting any real answers.

"Because you have partial control over the dreamworld and you wanted some questions answered. In order to save some time I think I'll answer a few of the basic questions first. Marco is not here because he no longer has a true persona, now everything is as it seems with him. We exist because our spirit feels caged and usually is trying to hide something about how we really feel. The reason why Yoh does not have dreams anymore is because he now has control over his dreams to such an extent that if he actually does dream he will leave the living world completely to enter his dream. All of us knew this so we all, excluding Marco, worked together to try to show him what his dreams mean. When Yoh was born he somehow gained Hao's future vision ability, but unlike Hao's visions, Yoh's are blurry but much more accurate. Hao sees a clear vision of many possible futures but Yoh sees a distorted vision of a single certain future. Unfortunately Hao's abilities interfered with Yoh's so we all worked together to get Hao to take part in Yoh's dream. We persona's are a bit different from our spirits so we have different opinions as well. Any other questions?" Jeanne said with a small close-eyed smile.

"How does talking to me change anything?" Nox asked, taking back his previous thought.

"Because even though we can't tell you what to do, because it might have consequences, talking to you might help you figure out what you need to do." Flower Anna replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why?" Nox asked, not liking the way that he seemed so dense right now.

At that everyone smiled like they were waiting for that question all along. "Because if everything goes right, things may change for the better." They all replied simultaneously as the dream faded away.

XxX

Nox gave a loud yawn as he stretched his limbs and looked around the camp. Everyone else was still asleep so Nox went over to Yoh and carefully picked him up. He grabbed on to Amidamaru and took flight. Nox wasn't sure why but he had the strangest feeling that something bad would happen to Team Gandhara if they stayed. As he left he watched the Asakura's and the X-Laws enter the camp. Nox stayed at a distance where he could see and hear them but they wouldn't notice his presence. Yohmei and Marco began talking to Lady Sati, questioning her on how and what she had done to help them. Sati replied that she simply tried to help them find their way. Nox watched the Iron Maiden enter the scene ad figured that it would be best if he left before someone noticed him. Nox flew over to an abandoned graveyard and woke Yoh up. Amidamaru looked happy about not being carried in Nox's mouth anymore and Yoh looked around with a fairly confused expression. Once Yoh was fully awake Nox smiled at him with an aura that said you're-probably-not-going-to-like-this.

"The X-Laws and Asakura's have already teamed up and started looking for us. It's time to start the _living_ hell training."

XxX

Me: I'm sorry that the chapter's a bit short.

Sati: Please review


	29. Caught

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

(_Only Yoh can understand Nox when he speaks in Latin but this is the Translation for the readers_)

"Speaking telepathically."

**Bold is a dangerous tone and _Bold with italics is a deadly tone._**

**On with the story:)**

XxX

After failing in the attempt to create a stable oversoul 68 times in the past twelve hours, Amidamaru suggested that they try to figure out the problem before trying again. Nox recommended that they try using their spiritual connection to move a rock. Upon seeing the skeptical expression of Amidamaru, he quickly explained why doing so would help. Nox said how if there was a connection problem between any of them the rock would go towards the person who's connection was stable. The three of them slowly began to focus on moving a small pebble. Within seconds it moved towards Amidamaru, much to their surprise. They had expected the problem to be with Nox and Amidamaru and for the stone to go to Yoh.

"What do you think the problem could be?" Yoh asked, unable to think of a plausible reason.

"I am equally surprised. Do you have any idea, Nox?" Amidamaru stared at the fox-like spirit for a moment. "Nox?"

"I think I know why. It's because I'm scared." Nox replied hesitantly.

"Why would you be scared?" Yoh asked, concerned for his friend.

"Because I don't want anything to go wrong like last time. You were pretty close to dying back then and if something goes wrong you could actually be killed this time. You're like a little brother to me and I wouldn't want something like that to happen because of me." Nox said, choosing each word carefully as he spoke.

"If we don't stabilize the oversoul, then there wont really be a point. I don't think that anything will go wrong but if it does then we can just work it out." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"You're right, let's try once more." Nox said, returning the smile.

When they tried to form the oversoul again, they succeeded. Yoh could sense that the oversoul was stable he decided to move around a bit to get used to it. He walked around the graveyard and realized why the oversoul worked now and not before. Figuring that Nox and Amidamaru were probably as tired as him after trying for hours to do the oversoul, he undid the oversoul. Nox became silent due to exhaustion while Amidamaru spoke of how happy he was that the oversoul was finally complete. Nox told Amidamaru and Yoh that he was going to go get Hao and Yoh's friends so that they could prepare for the fight. Nox walked to the edge of the graveyard and started walking towards the gate. Before Nox could even exit the graveyard he ran into Inari and Shigaraki, Mikihisa's spirits. Nox stopped and turned around before quickly running back to where Yoh and Amidamaru were. When he made it back he knew that he only had seconds before the Asakura's and the X-Laws came. He knew that there wasn't any time for an explanation or a chance to escape. He pushed Amidamaru out of the way as a cage surrounded him and Yoh. He told Amidamaru to go get Hao and Yoh's friends before he was seen. Taking note of the urgency in Nox's voice along with the current situation Amidamaru agreed and headed off in search of everyone. Right after Amidamaru had disappeared from sight the Asakura's and the X-Laws showed up. '_Yoh, they will not destroy us yet so there is no need to worry._' Nox said telepathically. '_I'm not worried, everything will work out somehow._' Yoh thought with a carefree smile. Nox tried chewing on the bars but it didn't make the slightest difference so he turned his attention to their captors.

"Ok, you caught us. Now what do you intend to do?" Nox asked as Shamash began carrying the cage.

"We will use you to lure out Hao then destroy the three of you." Jeanne replied in her usual icy tone.

"And how do you intend to destroy us might I ask?" Nox said in a polite tone.

"We will fire an attack which will eradicate your souls." Lyserg responded.

"You too Lyserg? Could you really live with a decision that could very well kill your friend as well as your enemy? Are you really _that_ intent on your revenge?" Nox snapped, each word with dripped with venom.

Lyserg flinched but didn't respond other than that. Nox and Yoh remained quiet for the rest of the trip. Once they arrived at the beach everyone began making preparations to do something. Once Nox was confident that no one was paying attention to them he turned to face Yoh. Yoh seemed perfectly calm as he watched everyone make their preparations.

"Nox, it seems like both you and I are thinking of something that could make it so that everything works out. Lets trade ideas, I'll tell you mine then you tell me yours." Yoh said calmly.

"Ok, what's your plan?"

XxX

Amidamaru rushed through the forest while trying to find Hao. He wasn't exactly sure what to say once he found him but he knew that he'd be able to find everyone else a lot quicker with his help. He spotted Opacho not that far away and flew over to where she was. As expected, Hao was walking just a little farther ahead. Amidamaru caught up with him and manadged look a bit calmer than what he actually was. Then he began trying to think of a way to explain everything that had just occurred. Hao simply nodded towards Opacho and then teleported elsewhere, bringing Amidamaru with before he could realize what happened. Amidamaru was surprised when the place that the teleported to was a field where Ren, Horohoro, Joco, Ryu and Faust were. Ren stopped Horohoro and Joco from attacking and looked at Amidamaru.

"What happened?" Ren asked , ignoring Hao as he walked over.

"Yoh and Nox have been caught. The Asakura's and the X-Laws plan to destroy them along with Hao once preparations for some sort of plan are complete." Amidamaru said quickly.

"What?! Then we have to go-" Horohoro exclaimed.

"Hold on a moment Horohoro." Ren said, grabbing the collar of Horohoro's shirt so that he wouldn't run off.

"Why, Ren?" Horohoro snapped.

"Yoh told us that he and Hao are together, do you honestly think that Hao would be so calm if he actually thought Yoh was in danger?" Ren asked.

"It's not that I don't think Yoh's in danger, it's that I know that they need him alive in order to lure me out. Plus I'm curious about the creature that's been staring at us since we started this conversation." Hao said as he pointed towards a winged wolf-like creature.

"What is that?" Ryu asked, surprised once he saw the creature.

The creature walked into the clearing and stared at them for a moment. "I am... Infelix. I am... here to ask certain questions... and tell you of the plan Yoh and Nox decided." Infelix stated, his tone showed how he clearly wasn't used to the language.

"Questions?" Faust asked curiously.

"For Hao... and you all. First questions are... To Hao, You care about Yoh a lot right? To others, Would you leave Yoh in his hands?" Infelix asked calmly.

"Of course I care about Yoh." Hao answered simply.

"Leave Yoh with Hao? What the hell are you talking about? If Yoh is going somewhere then go with him." Horohoro stated as everyone else nodded in agreement.

"If Yoh was dead to the world and reviving his spirit was impossible, what would you do then?" Infelix asked, keeping eye contact with everyone as he spoke.

"What exactly are you implying?" Ren asked.

"If Yoh died in the middle this fight, would you follow him in death?"

XxX

Me: Sorry it took so long to update.

Jeanne: Please review.


	30. Final fight

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Shaman King.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

The X's announces the start and end of a chapter or switching time, place, and characters... or dreams.

"Speaking telepathically."

**On with the story:)**

XxX

Nox stuck his head between the bars of the cage and looked down to see what everyone was doing. He guessed that The X-Laws had finally finished the preparations to their plan by the looks of things. Jeanne was standing directly below the cage with all of the X-Laws lined up in front of her. Mikihisa, Yohmei, and Kino were in the line also. He noticed that Keiko, Anna, and Tamao weren't there and figured that they had probably objected to the plan and stayed home. As he looked around the area he overheard Marco talk about how they expected Hao to show up at eleven o-clock, it was currently ten so there was an hour until the fight was expected. Once he was content with knowing all that he pulled his head back inside the cage. Nox turned and walked to the other side of the cage, where Yoh was sitting, and laid down on his lap.

"Yoh, I just thought that I should tell you that if the plan works, I won't be following you." Nox thought hesitantly.

"Why?" Yoh asked telepathically.

"I had always intended to leave when the time was right and if everything works out then there will be no need for me to stay. I am looking for someone and I have been looking for them for, well, pretty much my entire life. I have met them a few times before but I've never been able to be with them for very long." Nox explained.

"By life do you mean when you were still alive or after you died?" Yoh thought with a confused expression.

"Remember how I said I was a shapeshifter? Well, I can turn into the spirits of certain species too and... I've never actually died." Nox said slowly.

"You mean you've actually been 'alive' for over 900,000 years? How?" Yoh asked curiously.

"My species has a really long lifespan." Nox replied simply.

"Cool." Yoh thought with a carefree smile.

"...Your laid back personality never ceases to amaze me. You really do bring out the best in others, you know." Nox thought.

As they finished their mental conversation the clock struck eleven. Jeanne turned and looked up at them as Shamash lowered the cage. Jeanne opened the door and took a few steps back so that Yoh could get out. Yoh hesitated for a moment before exiting the cage. The X-Laws as well as the Asakura's didn't seem surprised, so he could only assume that this was a part of their plan.

"Yoh, do you know of the position that you're in right now?" Jeanne asked in an eerily calm tone.

"You're trying to kill me because I'm with Hao." Yoh said simply.

"True, but you're only in this position because of him. Hao has done many horrible things and that is why he has become known as evil. You could change though, you could join us." Jeanne said thoughtfully.

"Why would you want me to join the X-Laws?" Yoh asked, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

With your help we could stop Hao and completely rid the world of it's evil." Jeanne said as The X-Laws gathered around her.

"By stop him you mean kill him and by rid the world of it's evil you mean destroy anyone who opposes you, right?" Yoh asked as he clenched his fists in annoyance.

"We will do what is needed in the name of justice, everything will workout somehow, isn't that what you always say?" Jeanne asked calmly.

-_Flashback_-

_"Why do you want me to join the X hearts?" _

_"With your help we can punish the evil Hatter and cleanse the world completely of its evil." Jeanne said, calling the rest of the X hearts over to where they were._

_"By punish and cleanse you mean kill and massacre?" _

_"We do what is needed in the name of justice, everything will workout somehow, isn't that what you always say?" Jeanne asked, calmly._

_"Will you join us Asakura Yoh, or will you take sides with the evil Hatter?" Marco asked, fixing his glasses._

-_End Flashback_-

Yoh held his head as the memory faded, he had almost forgotten about that dream, why would he remember it now? Luckily for him Jeanne seemed to think that his confusion was coming from the current situation. He let go of his head as he remembered everything that was going on around him. Marco walked up beside Jeanne and looked straight at Yoh.

"Yoh, will you join us or be destroyed along with Hao?" Marco asked as he reached up to fix his glasses.

"I'm certain that this is going to have consequences but it's how I feel so I'll say it anyway. There is no way in _hell_ that I will ever join you. All of you are far _worse_ than Hao, at least he understands the damage he's causing to reach his goal, he just thinks that the end result will justify his actions and when he kills he ends it quickly. All of you don't even realize the damage that your causing is just as bad at his and when you kill you usually torture your victim into submitting to your will first and if they refuse you kill them. I will never agree to what you are doing." Yoh said, waiting for the response that he knew was coming.

Lyserg's jaw dropped and the rest of the X-Laws as well as the Asakura's looked completely stunned. Jeanne seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to speak from the shock and simply stared at him, unable to say a word. Shamash actually dropped the cage, which was still holding Nox, from surprise of hearing the comment. Nox cursed at the spirit, but Yoh doubted that anyone even remembered that he was still there at the moment. Once Jeanne shook off the initial shock, her eyes flared with rage and she dropped a few screws which were needed for her oversoul. Shamash ignored the fallen cage, which had broken after the fall, and created spiked chains which he used to bind Yoh. The spikes of the chains tore into his skin as they wrapped around him until he was completely unable to move. Yoh cringed as Shamash yanked on the chains and pulled him into a gibbet cage which was also made from Jeanne's oversoul. Shamash raised the cage with one hand while he turned his other hand into an ax.

"If that's how you feel that so be it. Shamash's judgment!" Jeanne called.

Yoh closed his eyes as Shamash brought down his ax for the attack which would execute him. Before the ax even made contact a strong fire erupted around the gibbet cage. The gibbet cage turned to ash and the chains which held Yoh melted. No longer having anything to hold him he fell, right into the arms of his older twin. Hao stood in the hand of the Spirit of Fire and held Yoh close. He looked worried upon seeing all the cuts and scratches on him, he had even passed out during the fall. His injuries weren't life threatening, but they looked painful. He turned his attention to the X-Laws and the Asakura's, giving them a glare which would scare _anyone_.

"And just _what_ were you indenting on doing to my precious otouto?" Hao asked, giving that phrase 'if looks could kill' a whole new meaning.

Jeanne ignored his question and called the other X-Laws and the Asakura's to attack. The Asakura spirit's attacked first but Hao easily fended them off with a blast of flames. While Hao was focusing on the Asakura spirits the arch angels carefully surrounded him. As he was about to finish off the Asakura spirits, the arch spirits had completely surrounded him. Hao didn't have much time to react as each of the arch spirits raised their weapons for an attack which would likely kill him. All of the X-Laws called their spirits to attack, all except one. Lyserg pulled back at the last minute and Zelel was the only arch spirit that didn't attack. Because of that the attack wasn't fatal, but it still did some damage and Hao was slightly weakened from it. As soon as Jeanne noticed this she called forth another attack. Shamash and the rest of the arch spirits created a giant cannon filled with furryoku and pointed it directly at the twins. Lyserg tried to stop the attack as it fired but he found himself unable to move. He turned around to see what was stopping him and saw Nox biting the end of his shirt.

"_You made the right choice Lyserg. Don't worry, they'll be fine. Wait one year after this is all over and then you'll know what I mean._" Nox said as the blinding light from the attack soon enveloped everything in white.

Once the light finally died down everyone rejoiced, Hao was dead and he most likely wouldn't be coming back. All that was left from where they once stood was a crater where the attack hit. Lyserg looked around and saw that Nox had disappeared as well. Knowing what would happen if he stayed, Lyserg left before anyone could remember that he didn't attack. Team Hanagumi, Opacho and team Tthe Ren disappeared after Hao and Yoh's death as well and no one heard from them since. The shaman tournament ended without anyone being crowned shaman king and everyone returned to their normal lives as though nothing had changed. Lyserg got a job as a detective in London, he never spoke of what happened during the tournament but he never forgot what happened ether. Not being able to stop the attack haunted him every night since the end of the tournament. He became a great well-known detective over the course of a few months, but despite how hard he tried he could never figure out the meaning to Nox's words.

XxX

Me: The story is almost over, the next chapter is the last.

Lyserg: please review


	31. A Pleasant Dream

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King or Alice in wonderland.

'_Italics means thoughts or emphasis on a word_' and "_With italics means whispering_"

- f_lashback_ –

'_Voices and thoughts_'

**On with the story:)**

XxX (One year Later) xXx

"Oi, Lyserg! There's a case that the boss wants you to solve." Ken said.

"Ok, where is it this time?" Lyserg asked as he looked up from his desk.

"Tokyo, someone out there heard of your skills and they want you to find their missing daughter." Ken replied before heading off to do his work.

Lyserg nodded in understanding and left for the airport. He took the first flight to Tokyo and once the plane landed he headed towards the house of the one who hired him. He found the daughter in no time at all, she had gotten stuck under a fallen tree and had a few scratches but there was no permanent harm. Since his job was now complete he headed to a hotel to stay for the night until he could head back to London tomorrow. He had honestly expected the case to take longer but it's not like he was complaining ether. It was still early but he figured that he may as well get some sleep. He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in a long time.

xXx

Lyserg opened his eyes to find himself in a strange yet familiar forest. It took him a moment to remember where he had seen he forest before, it was the forest where Yoh had gotten separated from them in their search for the Patch village. Lyserg's expression saddened when he remembered traveling with Yoh and everyone. When he looked up he found himself staring face to face at a fluffy purple cat. Lyserg reached out to pet it but it jumped out of his lap before he could touch it. The cat started walking away but when it noticed that he wasn't following it turned around and meowed at him. Lyserg took the hint and began following the little cat through the forest, it was just a dream after all, what's the harm? The cat always stayed at a pace where it was too far to reach but close enough to see. Lyserg lost sight of the cat when it jumped into a big rabbit hole. Despite knowing that it was a dream he still had no intention of going in after it but before he could turn back someone pushed him down into the hole.

'_What was that?_' Lyserg thought as he fell. He was a little unnerved when strange voices inside his head actually responded to his question. '_You'll find out soon._' The voices replied. He managed to land on his feet when he reached the ground. He quickly realized that he was in a small room where the only exit seemed to be a door which was much to small for anyone to fit into. Upon further investigation he noticed a table with a half drunken glass and footprints which gradually grew smaller as they left the table and headed towards the door. Lyserg walked over to the table and drank the rest of the glass. Within moments he had become small enough to enter the door. He walked over to the door and opened it. Once he walked through the door it slammed shut behind him. Ignoring the click that sounded like a lock he noticed that he was now in a strange forest that looked like the garden of a giant. He stepped back in surprise upon seeing a giant skeleton butterfly, it flew over him and dropped a cookie on his head.

Lyserg was really starting to wonder what was wrong with the dream as he ate the cookie and returned to his original size. He walked out of the garden and into a forest with signs pointing everywhere. Eventually he reached a fork in the road where two twin girls were standing. The girls looked up at him and smiled.

"My name's Lip and my names Rap. You need to go that way, but avoid the traps." The girls said as they pointed right.

Lyserg was beginning to question his own sanity for listening to them as he walked down the right path, eventually he reached a burned down castle. Not sure what to do next he figured that he may as well ask and hope the voices answered. '_Ok, I'm at a strange burned down castle. What now?_' Lyserg thought. As expected the voices responded. '_You're almost there, follow the hare._' The voices replied. Lyserg looked around and spotted a blue rabbit which seemed to be going somewhere in a rush. As he followed the rabbit he began to notice the smell of tea, the smell became stronger as they approached a set of bushes. The rabbit hopped in without a second thought and Lyserg carefully entered after it.

"You're finally here! Welcome to the land of dreams Lyserg. You're just in time for tea." Everyone said.

Lyserg was in total shock at the moment. Right in front of him was the craziest tea party he had ever seen, but that wasn't what shocked him so much. Sitting at the table and waiting for him to come over was a reddish queen like Jeanne, Kanna, Matilda, Marion, The skeleton butterfly which strangely resembled Faust, Opacho, Ren, Horohoro, Joco, and lastly Hao and Yoh. Red Queen Jeanne was chatting with Marion about trying to be more cheerful and Butterfly Faust was talking to Opacho about physics.

"Is this just a dream? How is this... What happened?" Lyserg asked as he took a seat next to Yoh.

"Yes and no, here's what happened." Yoh replied.

-_Flashback_-

"_What exactly are you implying?" Ren asked._

"_If Yoh died in the middle of this fight, would you follow him in death?" Infelix said calmly._

"_What do you mean 'if Yoh dies'?" Hao asked, showing slight irritation was hidden behind his words._

"_You are a very strong shaman Hao and you have many enemies. It is not likely that you or Yoh will make it out of this unharmed while looking out for each other. Even if you two were to survive there would always be someone out after you. The only way for the two of you to be able to live in peace is if the world thinks you're dead. Yoh and Nox thought of a way for this to happen, I'm here to ask who will be going with." Infelix informed._

"_What's the plan?" Joco asked, still slightly suspicious._

"_Yoh and Nox have been captured as you all know. The X-Laws will undoubtedly try to recruit Yoh one last time before the fight. When they do that they will let him out of the cage to show that they're serious. All you have to do is arrive after Yoh is let out and put up a believable fight. Nox will wait for the right moment and send the two of you to the forest of separations, the only place left known where shaman will be able to enter the dream world. In the heart of the forest is a door which is only visible to some, enter it and you will be led to the dream wonderland. Once everything has died down and most have forgotten about you, you can stay or leave as you wish." Infelix explained._

"_Sounds fine with me. When does this plan start?" Hao asked._

"_11:00, good luck"_

-_End Flashback-_

"And that's what happened. After Hao and I went in, Hanagumi, Opacho and Ren's team came in too." Yoh said with a smile.

"Do you guys ever plan on coming back to the real world?" Lyserg asked as he drank some tea.

"Sure, once the remaining X-Laws stop being so paranoid." Ren replied simply.

"Well, excluding Hao, I'm glad that you guys are fine. See you then." Lyseg said as he began to wake up.

XxX

Lyserg slowly got out of bed and looked at the clock, it was 9:50. He quickly got dressed and and got his bags together. The plane that he was supposed to take would be leaving in ten minutes and if he didn't hurry he would miss it. He got a taxi and headed straight for the airport. Once he was there he checked in his luggage and ran to the plane, he managed to make it in just before it took off. The flight seemed to last longer than the last, after the 11 hour long flight was over he walked back to his office. It wasn't that long of a walk, but when he arrived at the office everyone else had already gone home. Ken was the last person there besides him and he seemed to be getting ready to leave as well.

"Hey Lyserg, how did the case go?" Ken asked as he picked up his hat.

"It want fine, nothing new." Lyserg said while taking a seat at his desk.

"Nothing knew? You sure? You seem a bit different, a bit happier than before." Ken said while opening the door.

"It's nothing. I simply got some much needed rest last night and I had a pleasant dream as well."

XxX

_Shadowzamy_: That's the end of the Shaman's dream. Thank you all for reading. A give a special thanks to Sk-fan7, Lightning-Claire, and Boblove123. Thank you all for the reviews, complements, and reminding me to update. I hope y'all liked the ending. Ja ne.


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